tibrarp  of  'the  Cheolocjical  Seminary 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 

•d^s^D* 

FROM  THE  LIBRARY  OF 
ROBERT  ELLIOTT  SPEER 

~BV  3705  .M2  2  W37  1923 
Warren,  William  Robinson. 

The  life  and  labors  of 
Archibald  McLean 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/lifelaborsofarchOOwarr 


THE  LIFE  AND  LABORS  OF  ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


I.  to 


— Hollinger,  Nexo  York, 


1916. 


THE  LIFE  AND  LABORS 


OF 


/}/ 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


/ 


WILLIAM  ROBINSON  WARREN 

EDITOR  OF  WORLD  CALL 


PUBLISHED  FOR 

UNITED  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 


BY 

THE  BETHANY  PRESS 
St.  Louis 


Copyright,  1923 

By  United  Christian  Missionary  Society 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


PREFACE 

A  short  time  after  the  death  of  Mr.  McLean,  my 
associates  in  the  United  Christian  Missionary  Society 
asked  me  to  write  his  biography.  I  answered  that 
this  was  the  first  time  I  had  ever  wanted  to  write  a 
book,  but  that  I  would  suppress  my  desire  if  some¬ 
one  better  qualified  could  be  enlisted  for  the  task. 
As  those  whom  I  would  have  nominated  were  over¬ 
loaded  with  work  which  they  could  not  transfer  to 
others,  and  as  Mrs.  Esther  Treudley  Johnson  gra¬ 
ciously  undertook  to  add  to  her  own  responsibilities 
in  the  editing  of  World  Call  at  least  half  of  mine,  a 
generosity  which  her  sister  and  successor,  Dr.  Mary 
Bosworth  Treudley,  has  continued  without  abatement, 
I  consented  to  let  the  executive  committee  assign  the 
writing  of  the  biography  to  me. 

When  I  began  to  gather  material  for  the  book  my 
temerity  in  undertaking  it  became  increasingly  mani¬ 
fest.  In  contrast  with  the  importance  of  the  subject 
was  the  scarcity  of  biographical  material.  Mr.  Mc¬ 
Lean  kept  no  diary  and  destroyed  his  personal  corre¬ 
spondence.  Fortunately  many  of  his  friends  saved  his 
letters  to  them  and,  still  more  happily,  Mrs.  F.  M. 
Rains  consented  to  assist  me.  Her  long  and  intimate 
acquaintance  with  Mr.  McLean,  her  tireless  industry 
and  skill  in  examining  records,  deciphering  illegible 
writing  and  running  down  elusive  facts,  gave  her  an 
indispensable  place  in  the  work.  She  even  took  up 
again  the  stenography  of  her  girlhood  and  did  the 


5 


6 


PREFACE 


mechanical  work  on  the  manuscript.  All  the  while 
the  reliability  of  her  judgment  as  to  what  should  be 
included  and  what  omitted  was  as  marked  as  her  re¬ 
serve  in  expressing  that  judgment. 

When  it  was  expected  that  this  volume  would  ap¬ 
pear  before  the  briefer  Life  of  Francis  Marion  Rains, 
by  his  son,  Paul  B.  Rains,  I  consented  to  the  use  in 
that  book  of  several  letters  which  I  had  selected  to 
illustrate  the  intimate  partnership  of  these  two 
friends.  With  the  tables  turned  and  the  life  of  Mr. 
Rains  coming  out  first,  it  seemed  unnecessary  to  lay 
aside  these  letters  and  other  quotations  and  rewrite 
that  chapter. 

It  is  impossible  to  name  those  who  supplied  in¬ 
formation  for  the  book ;  there  was  universal  readiness 
to  help.  Instead  of  a  dearth  of  material,  there  ap¬ 
peared  in  time  an  embarrassing  wealth  of  it.  In  addi¬ 
tion  to  the  generous  assistance  of  my  associates  in 
the  offices  of  the  United  Christian  Missionary  Society, 
President  Charles  Thomas  Paul,  Reuben  Butchart, 
Burris  Atkins  Jenkins,  Professor  Alexander  Camp¬ 
bell  Gray  and  President  Edgar  Odell  Lovett  have 
read  either  the  manuscript  or  the  proofs  and  given 
valuable  suggestions. 

As,  during  his  life,  I  observed  the  vast  service 
Archibald  McLean  was  rendering  and  the  great  joy 
and  satisfaction  he  found  in  his  Christianity,  I  won¬ 
dered  continually  that  anyone  should  be  willing  to  live 
in  any  other  way.  After  more  than  two  years  of 
constant  study  of  his  career  I  feel  this  more  strongly 
than  ever.  I  trust  the  contents  of  this  volume  may 
so  reveal  the  man  to  its  readers  that  all  will  close  it 
with  two  convictions:  that  Archibald  McLean  is  su¬ 
perb,  but  that  Archibald  McLean’s  Lord  is  supreme. 


CONTENTS 


PART  I 


Getting  Ready 

Chapter  I. — Clan  McLean . 17 

SCOTCH  HIGHLANDS - HEBRIDES  ISLANDS - DR.  JOHNSON’S  JOUR¬ 

NEY — CLIMATE  OF  ISLANDS — PRODUCTS — JOHNSON  AND  THE  MC¬ 
LEANS - ORIGIN  OF  THE  CLAN — HEROIC  HISTORY — DUART  CASTLE — 

VIRTUE  AND  HONOR. 

Chapter  II. — His  Father’s  House . 24 

AUTHOR’S  JOURNEY  TO  PRINCE  EDWARD  ISLAND— SUMMERSIDE 

- SILVER  FOXES,  LAMBS  AND  CANNED  LOBSTERS — BIRTHPLACE  OF 

ARCHIBALD  MC  LEAN - PARENTS - BROTHERS  AND  SI8TERS - SCHOOL 

AND  FARM — ARCHIE  AND  JIM — FAMILY  RELIGION MISSIONARY 

INTEREST - JOHN  GEDDIE - MALCOLM  MC  LEAN’S  PRAYING  AND  BI¬ 
BLE  READING - HIS  LOVE  OF  CHILDREN. 

Chapter  III. — Learning  His  Trade . 44 

APPRENTICED  TO  AN  UNCLE  AND  THEN  TO  WILLIAM  TUPLIN — SEPA¬ 
RATION  FROM  JIM  AND  LIFELONG  DEVOTION  TO  HIM — AFFECTION 
EXTENDED  TO  HIS  SONS — TERMS  AND  CONDITIONS  OF  APPRENTICE¬ 
SHIP - EXCELLENCE  OF  TUPLIN’S  WORK - MC  LEAN’S  PAS8ION  FOR 

PERFECTION. 

Chapter  IV. — Finding  His  Soul . 49 

BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  RESTORATION  MOVEMENT  IN  PRINCE  EDWARD 

ISLAND - THE  CHURCH  OF  DISCIPLES  AT  SUMMERSIDE - DONALD 

CRAWFORD’S  REVIVAL  IN  1867 - ARCHIBALD  MCLEAN’S  ACCEPTANCE 

OF  THE  NEW  TEACHING - PRESENCE  OF  HIS  BROTHER  JOHN  AT 

BAPTISM — ANOTHER  EXAMPLE  OF  HIS  RETICENCE - WINNING  HIS 

FATHER - THE  CALL  TO  PREACH. 

Chapter  V. — Bethany  College . 56 

BETHANY  AN  IDEALIZED  PLACE — MC  LEAN’S  JOURNEY — THE  COL¬ 
LEGE  BUILDING - THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  MC  LEAN’S  BETHANY  - 

COLLEGE  COURSE - PROFESSOR  DOLBEAR'S  INVENTIONS — FELLOW 

STUDENTS — COLLEGE  LIFE — BETHANY’S  INFLUENCE — MC  LEAN’S 
DEVOTION  TO  BETHANY. 

Chapter  VI. — Mt.  Healthy . 71 

EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH — MC  LEAN’S  ENGAGEMENT  AS  PAS¬ 
TOR — THE  CHURCH’S  APPRECIATION  OF  ITS  MINISTER — HONORED 

OUTSIDE  THE  CHURCH - POPULARITY  WITH  THE  CHILDREN — HIGH 

IDEALS  FOR  HIMSELF  AND  HIS  PEOPLE — THE  CHURCH’S  REMARK¬ 
ABLE  ATTAINMENTS  IN  GIVING — THE  PASTOR’S  CARE  OF  THE  CHIL¬ 
DREN - HIS  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  HIS  SUCCESSORS - RECIPROCAL  AND 

UNDYING  AFFECTION. 


7 


8 


CONTENTS 

PART  II 

Vindicating  Missions 


Chapter  VII. — Drafted  for  Missions . 91 

FOREIGN  SOCIETY  ORGANIZED - SEVEN  YEARS  OF  SLOW  GROWTH - 

MC  LEAN  BECOMES  SECRETARY - FIRST  MISSIONARIES  TO  A  NON- 

CHRISTIAN  FIELD - LOCATION  OF  INDIA  MISSION - T FI  REE  YEARS  OF 

DOUBLE  WORK - CHANGES  CHIROGRAPHY - WORK  IN  ENGLAND - 

BUDGET-MAKING  THEN  AND  NOW - FIRST  MISSIONARIES  TO  JAPAN 

AND  CHINA - THE  BROTHERHOOD  COMMITTED  TO  MISSIONS. 


Chapter  VIII. — Concentrating  His  Energy  .  .  .106 

CLOSING  HIS  PASTORATE - OVERCOMING  OPPOSITION  AND  INDIFFER¬ 
ENCE - INTENSITY  AND  BREADTH - MANNERISMS - INDIFFERENCE 

TO  CROWDS — INFLUENCE  UPON  STUDENTS - USE  OF  THE  PRINTED 

PAGE — LOOS  SUCCEEDS  ERRETT - ECUMENICAL  CONFERENCE  OF  1888 

IN  LONDON - MULTIPLYING  PROBLEMS. 


Chapter  IX. — In  a  Strait  Betwixt  Two . 116 

PRESIDENT  OF  BETHANY  COLLEGE - HIS  LOVE  OF  BETHANY - 

LOVETT’S  ESTIMATE - MC  WANE'S  RECOLLECTION - TURNING  THE 

TIDE - RESIGNATION  OF  PRESIDENCY - OPEN  LETTER  OF  MISSION¬ 
ARIES - DEMONSTRATION  OF  STUDENTS — PAINFUL  DECISION. 


Chapter  X. — “This  One  Thing  I  Do” . 129 

DISTRESS  OVER  SLOWNESS  OF  SOCIETY  AND  COLLEGE - PATIENCE 

WITH  MEN  LESS  CONSECRATED  THAN  HE — DEVELOPING  THE  HOME 
BASE — FURLOUGHS  OF  MISSIONARIES — FIRST  BOOK - TEN  THOU¬ 

SAND  IDEAS,  ONE  TASK. 


Chapter  XI. — A  Circuit  of  the  Globe . 138 

BY  ORDER  OF  THE  CONVENTION - A  SUCCESSION  OF  FAREWELLS - 

PUBLICATION  OF  LETTERS  AND  BOOK - HOME  MISSIONS — HAWAII 

- LIFE  ON  SHIPBOARD - APPROACHING  AND  SEEING  JAPAN - 

ITINERATING  IN  CHINA - STUDYING  INDIA - BAPTIZING  IN  IN¬ 
DIA - SPEAKING  IN  AUSTRALIA - PATH  OF  DUTY  HOMEWARD - 

IMPRESSIONS  OF  THE  GRAND  TOUR. 


Chapter  XII. — The  Jubilee  Period . 158 

NEW  HOME  IN  WALNUT  HILLS - MARKED  ADVANCE  OF  THE  WORK 

- ENTERING  AFRICA — FIRST  ANNUITY  BOND — MISSIONARY  RALLIES 

- DEATH  OF  MISSIONARIES — THE  CUBAN  MISSION - THE  JUBILEE 

CONVENTION. 


PART  III 

Enlisting  Cooperation 

Chapter  XIII. — Tpie  Centennial  Period  ....  167 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  FOREIGN  SOCIETY - CONSTANTINOPLE  TRIP - 

PHILIPPINE  MISSION  OPENED - SALARY  AND  CONTRIBUTIONS — AN¬ 
NUAL  BREAKFAST  FOR  MISSIONARIES - ANNUAL  CONFERENCE - 

STEPHEN  J.  COREY  ELECTED  SECRETARY - CENTENNIAL  OF  DIS¬ 
CIPLES - DEDICATION  OF  STEAMBOAT  OREGON - CAMPBELL  BROCH- 


CONTENTS 


9 


UP.ES - "MILK  HER  DRY  !” - TIBETAN  MISSION  ESTABLISHED — UNI¬ 
VERSITY  OF  NANKING  INAUGURATED - WORLD  CONFERENCE  AT 

EDINBURGH - “HELPING  THE  BRETHREN” - “WHERE  LIFE  WILL 

COUNT" — THE  CALIFORNIA  GOLD  WATCH. 

Chapter  XIV. — The  Foreign  Missionary  Rallies  .  187 

FIGHTING  "HEATHENISM  AT  HOME'’’ - MC  LEAN  AND  RAINS 

DESCRIBE  THE  RALLIES - PLAN  AND  TEAM  FOR  RALLIES - SERIES  OF 

1907 - MISS  FRANKLIN’S  EXPERIENCES - "HAVING  THE  BEST  TIME 

ON  EARTH" - SEVEN  THINGS  THE  RALLIES  OF  1905  SHOWED 

MC  LEAN. 

Chapter  XV. — ■“ Don’t  Forget  the  Books”  .  .  .  198 

w.  H.  HANNA  GETS  A  MOTTO - "WHERE  THE  BOOK  SPEAKS" - 

"HAND  BOOK  OF  MISSIONS" - "EPOCH  MAKERS  OF  MODER  MIS¬ 
SIONS" - PRESIDENT  PAUL'S  ESTIMATE  OF  TWO  MC  LEAN  BOOKS - 

"HISTORY  OF  THE  FOREIGN  SOCIETY" - "TPIE  PRIMACY  OF  THE 

MISSIONARY" - A  TRACT,  "DOUBLING  THE  PREACHER’S  POWER" - 

BREADTH  OF  MC  LEAN’S  READING - HIS  LIBRARY - BOOK  TALK  WITH 

THE  GRAYS - METHOD  OF  STUDY - "INTERCESSORY  PRAYER." 

Chapter  XVI. — The  Message  of  the  Man  .  .  .  .210 

THREE  BOOKS  WHICH  SUM  UP  HIS  MESSAGE - NOTABLE  CHAPTERS 

IN  "WHERE  THE  BOOK  SPEAKS" - QUOTATIONS - "EPOCH  MAKERS 

OF  MODERN  MISSIONS" - BROAD  SYMPATHIES  AND  HIGH  IDEALS - 

JESUS  CHRIST’S  MEN - "THE  PRIMACY  OF  THE  MISSIONARY" - 

FOUR  THESES  OF  THE  BOOK - THE  MISSIONARY  IDEA  OUTSIDE  OF 

MISSIONS - THE  FINE  ART  OF  HONESTY. 

Chapter  XVII. — Hearth  Fires  Round  the  World  .  222 

UNIQUE  RELATION  TO  MISSIONARIES - THE  ONE  PRAYER  CHRIST 

COMMANDED— MORE  THAN  FATHER - INFORMAL  COMMISSIONS - 

CHOOSING  MISSION  FIELDS — ESCORTING  AN  AMBASSADOR - LETTERS 

FREQUENT  AND  VITAL - SOLICITUDE  FOR  DR.  SHELTON - DAILY 

PRAYERS  FOR  ALL  MISSIONARIES  BY  NAME - INTRODUCING  MIS¬ 
SIONARIES  AT  THE  CONVENTIONS - THE  ELDREDS - THE  DYES - MISS 

EBERLE,  "EVEN  THESE  LEAST" - BLESSED  IN  BLESSING. 

Chapter  XVIII. — Lengthening  the  Cords  ....  237 

AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL — MISSIONARY  GROWTH  OF  DISCIPLES  IN  THIRTY 

YEARS — MUCKLEY  AND  MACKLIN - TRIBUTE  TO  COMRADES — IN 

GOD’S  HANDS — NEXT  THIRTY  YEARS - ORIENTAL  COMMISSION  IN 

1914 - PERSONAL  MESSAGES  OF  MISSIONARIES - PANAMA  CONGRESS 

OF  1916 - MEN  AND  MILLIONS  MOVEMENT - ENLARGED  SIX  TIMES 

- CAMPAIGN,  1914-1918 - AN  EDUCATIONAL  AND  SPIRITUAL  ENTER¬ 
PRISE - MC  LEAN’S  STATEMENT  AS  PRESIDENT. 

Chapter  XIX. — Crowning  the  Years . 253 

THIRTY-FIFTH  ANNIVERSARY  CELEBRATION — LOVING  SELF  FOR  THE 

SAKE  OF  GOD — MC  LEAN  FUND - QUOTATIONS  FROM  SPEECHES  AND 

LETTERS - HIS  ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 


PART  IV 


As  Seeing  Him  Who  is  Invisible 


Chapter  XX. — Steadfast  Through  Storm  and  Stress  263 

DIFFERENCES  AMONG  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  CHRIST - DIVISION - 

COLOSSAL  DIMENSIONS  OF  MC  LEAN’S  TASK — SUCCESS  ENGENDERS 

PERENNIAL  OPPOSITION - FIRM  FOR  PRINCIPLES - CONCILIATORY  ON 

METHODS — CINCINNATI  CONVENTION  OF  1919 - ST.  LOUIS  1920 - 

DECLARATION  OF  FAITH. 


10 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  XXI. — Archibald  McLean  and  the  Ministry  278 

LOYALTY  TO  HIS  OWN  PASTOR — EFFORTS  TO  ENLIST  MINISTERS - 

"DOUBLING  THE  PREACHER'S  POWER" — QUOTATIONS — LECTURES  TO 

PREACHERS - CONCERN  FOR  ENTIRE  LIFE  AND  ALL  RELATIONS - 

QUOTATIONS  FROM  "THE  PREACHER'S  WIFE" - ADVICE  ON  MUCK- 

LEY'S  PASTORATE  AND  MARRIAGE - MINISTERS'  CHILDREN — LONE¬ 

LINESS  CONFESSED  IN  LETTERS — ALWAYS  A  PREACHER  HIMSELF. 


Chapter  XXII. — Interchurch  Relations  .  .  .  .292 

CHRISTIAN  UNITY  AND  MISSIONS  INSEPARABLE — RECENT  ORIGIN 

OF  UNITED  MOVEMENTS - LONDON  MISSIONARY  CONFERENCE  OF 

1888 - NEW  YORK,  1900 - EDINBURGH,  1910 - ANNUAL  FOREIGN 

MISSIONS  CONFERENCE  OF  NORTH  AMERICA - FRATERNAL  SPIRIT 

PREVALENT  TODAY — UNION  ENTERPRISES  OF  THE  UNITED  SOCIETY 

- THREE  ERAS  OF  MISSIONS — INTERCHURCH  WORLD  MOVEMENT - 

PREPARATORY  CONFERENCES — FAILURE  OF  THE  CANVASS  AND  PAY¬ 
MENT  OF  UNDERWRITINGS. 


Chapter  XXIII. — United  Christian  Missionary 

Society . 307 

INITIAL  CORRESPONDENCE - NEED  OF  UNIFICATION — PRELIMINARY 

STEPS  IN  UNION — PROPOSAL  TO  CONVENTION  IN  1917 - AGREEMENT 

ADOPTED  IN  1919 — LETTER  TO  BURNHAM  REGARDING  PRESIDENCY 

- HEADQUARTERS — REMOVAL  TO  ST.  LOUIS — HOME  AND  CHURCH 

- HIS  LAST  CANADIAN  CONVENTION. 


Chapter  XXIV. — A  Partnership  of  Consecration  .  322 

TEAMWORK  OF  MC  LEAN  AND  RAINS — LETTERS  WHICH  STRENGTH¬ 
ENED  THE  BOND - LAST  WORDS — FUNERAL  SERMON - LETTERS  TO 

FRIENDS — LIFE-AND-DEATH  UNION. 


Chapter  XXV. — Comrades  of  the  Way  ....  336 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  FOREIGN  SOCIETY — LETTER  TO  S.  J.  COREY — 

QUOTATIONS  FROM  COREY — WILSON'S  REMINISCENCES - JEWELS 

AND  AUCTIONS — LUCY  KING  DE  MOSS - KAMPE,  COLSHER  AND  THE 

OFFICE - DR.  KILGOUR - DR.  EARNEST — LETTER  TO  PRESIDENT  PAUL 

- LETTER  TO  MUCKLEY — FELLOWSHIP  WITH  THE  OFFICERS  OF  ALL 

THE  BOARDS — YOCUM'S  RECOLLECTIONS — LETTER  TO  A.  E.  CORY - TO 

MRS.  CORY - TO  R.  A.  DOAN - S.  M.  COOPER — B.  L.  SMITH — EFFECTS 

OF  CLOSE  ASSOCIATION. 


Chapter  XXVI. — A  Completed  Task . 359 

PROPOSED  TOUR  OF  MISSION  FIELDS — ANNUAL  VISIT  TO  BATTLE 

CREEK — SLIGHT  SURGICAL  OPERATION — LETTERS  TO  ST.  LOUIS - 

FRIENDS  OLD  AND  NEW — LETTER  OF  W.  H.  MILLER - "TWO  MILLION 

FRIENDS" — THE  SHOCK  OF  HIS  GOING — FUNERAL  IN  ST.  LOUIS 
AND  CINCINNATI — REBURIAL  AT  BETHANY — BETTY  MUCKLEY'8 
TRIBUTE — LETTERS  AND  CARDS  TO  THE  BOWDEN  CHILDREN — MRS. 
POUNDS'  POEM - HIS  WORK  WAS  DONE — THE  ST.  LOUIS  CONVEN¬ 

TION — HI8  WORK  GOES  ON  FOREVER. 


Chapter  XXVII. — The  Man  God  Took . 385 

MODESTY  —  STRENGTH  —  ENERGY GENIALITY — LOVE COURAGE — 

INTEGRITY — CHRIST  IN  HIM. 


Index 


393 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Archibald  McLean . Frontispiece 

Facing  Page 

Malcolm  McLean . 42 

Prince  Edward  Island  . 54 

Faculty  of  Bethany  College  in  1874  62 

Archibald  McLean  at  Twenty-five . 74 

Mt.  Healthy . 84 

Archibald  McLean,  Pastor-Secretary . 104 

Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society  Pioneers  ....  114 

A  Transformation  in  Handwriting . 96 

Bethany  College  and  Village  in  A.  McLean’s  Presidency  .  124 

Archibald  McLean  at  Forty- one . 134 

A.  McLean’s  Fellow  Officers  in  the  Foreign  Society  .  .  .  246 

United  Society  Officers  not  from  the  Foreign  Society  .  .  274 

Just  as  He  Left  it  (Study  in  St.  Louis) . 360 

Among  the  Hills  He  Loved  (Monument  at  Bethany)  .  .  .  374 

Archibald  McLean . 202 


11 


DEDICATED  TO 

THE  MISSIONARIES,  WHOM  ARCHIBALD 
MC  LEAN  HONORED,  LOVED  AND  SERVED  AS 
HIS  COMRADES,  HIS  CHILDREN,  HIS  HEROES 


PART  I 

GETTING  READY 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


CHAPTER  I 


CLAN  McLEAN 


SCOTCH  HIGHLANDS - HEBRIDES  ISLANDS - DR.  JOHNSON'S  JOURNEY - 

CLIMATE  OF  ISLANDS - PRODUCTS - JOHNSON  AND  THE  MC  LEANS — ORIGIN  OF 

THE  CLAN — HEROIC  HISTORY — DUART  CASTLE - VIRTUE  AND  HONOR. 


LL  the  lines  of  Archibald  McLean’s  ancestry  be- 


A  x  longed  to  the  Highlands  of  Scotland,  and  chiefly 
to  the  rugged  Hebrides  Islands  off  the  western  coast.  It 
is  not  necessary  to  accept  in  full  the  idealization  of 
the  Highlanders  in  modern  literature  to  realize  that 
they  are  a  superior  race.  Centuries  of  conflict  with 
warlike  neighbors,  tempestuous  seas  and  a  semi-barren 
soil,  together  with  constant  and  thorough  instruction 
in  the  Christian  Scriptures,  have  developed  in  them  a 
heroic  type  of  manhood  that  has  won  distinction  in 
many  fields  of  human  endeavor.  More  than  a  coinci¬ 
dence  appears  in  the  fact  that  another  Archibald 
McLean,  who  spent  his  early  life  on  the  Island  of  Mull 
and  in  the  Presbyterian  church,  later  became  a  Bap¬ 
tist  and  is  considered  the  founder  of  the  Baptist  church 
in  Scotland. 

A  clear  and  reliable  account  of  the  conditions  that 
prevailed  within  the  century  preceding  the  migration 
of  Mr.  McLean’s  family  to  Canada  is  found  in  A 
Journey  to  the  Western  Islands  of  Scotland ,  by  Dr. 
Samuel  Johnson,  the  great  English  author.  He  made 
the  visit  in  1773  in  company  with  Mr.  Boswell,  his 


17 


18 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


friend  and  biographer,  who  also  wrote  some  illumi¬ 
nating  and  diverting  notes  on  the  journey. 

Dr.  Johnson  was  an  experienced  and  discriminating 
observer  and  not  at  all  disposed  to  idealize  the  Scots. 
He  found  that,  in  the  one  generation  since  the  sup¬ 
pression  of  the  last  Scotch  uprising  against  British 
authority,  the  laws  then  enacted  to  stop  the  wearing 
of  the  Highland  tartans  and  the  carrying  of  arms 
had  been  thoroughly  enforced  and  the  people  had  lost 
their  picturesqueness.  Soon  after  Dr.  Johnson’s  time 
the  government  removed  these  severe  restrictions  and 
even  encouraged  the  Highlanders  to  wear  their  plaids 
and  kilts  in  the  distinctive  tartans  of  the  several  clans, 
especially  in  war.  The  fact  that  these  superficial  dis¬ 
tinctions  had  passed  away  probably  caused  Dr.  John¬ 
son  to  observe  more  closely  the  fundamental  condi¬ 
tions  of  the  islands.  Much  of  the  information  that 
follows  was  gathered  from  his  pages. 

As  they  lie  far  north  we  should  expect  the  island  of 
Mull,  which  was  the  chief  seat  of  the  McLeans,  Coll, 
another  of  their  possessions,  and  Skye,  from  which 
Archibald  McLean ’s  ancestors  migrated  to  America,  to 
be  severely  cold  in  winter,  like  Labrador,  but  the  pre¬ 
vailing  winds  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  greatly  soften 
the  temperature.  The  waters  around  the  islands 
never  freeze,  and  the  ice  that  forms  on  the  fresh 
water  pools  never  becomes  thick  enough  to  bear  a 
man’s  weight.  There  is  little  snow  and  it  does  not 
last  long.  But  what  the  winter  lacks  in  coldness  it 
makes  up  in  its  length  and  darkness  and  its  almost 
incessant  rains.  It  is  cold  enough  also  to  prevent  the 
growth  of  vegetation,  and  live  stock  as  well  as  human 
beings  must  subsist  entirely  on  the  sparse  products  of 
the  summer.  Winter  comes  so  early  and  lingers  so 
late  that  the  islanders  scarcely  have  either  fall  or 
spring.  The  same  ocean  winds  that  prevent  freezing 


HEBRIDES  ISLANDS 


19 


in  the  winter  lay  a  heavy  tax  upon  both  animal  and 
vegetable  life  throughout  the  summer.  On  this  ac¬ 
count  the  soil  has  little  chance  to  produce  even  as  much 
as  it  would  be  capable  of  yielding  under  favorable 
conditions. 

The  principal  crops  in  the  old  days  were  oats  and 
barley.  Of  these  the  farmers  expected  only  a  triple 
increase,  which  meant  that  they  had  to  save  the  best 
third  of  the  crop  for  seed.  Much  of  the  land  lay  in 
such  tiny  patches  among  the  crags  that  it  could  not 
be  cultivated  with  horse  and  plough  but  had  to  be  tilled 
by  hand.  For  this  purpose  they  used  a  crude  instru¬ 
ment  called  a  crooked  spade.  While  there  were  water 
mills  they  ground  a  great  deal  of  the  oats  in  their 
homes  with  handmills  which  consisted  of  two  stones 
about  eighteen  inches  in  diameter.  Living  under  such 
severe  conditions  naturally  developed  great  hardihood 
in  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands,  at  the  same  time 
that  the  difficulties  of  travel,  being  even  greater  than 
in  the  Highlands  of  the  mainland,  tended  to  induce  an 
intense  devotion  to  the  clan. 

We  are  especially  interested  in  Dr.  Johnson’s  refer¬ 
ences  to  the  McLeans  whom  he  met.  He  tells  how 
4  4  Donald  McLean,  eldest  son  of  the  laird  of  the  island 
of  Coll,  desirous  of  improving  his  inheritance,  spent 
a  considerable  time  among  the  farmers  of  Hereford¬ 
shire  and  Hampshire  to  learn  their  practice,  working 
with  his  own  hands  at  the  principal  operations  of  agri¬ 
culture.”  This  eldest  son  governed  his  father’s 
domains  while  that  laird  resided  in  Edinburgh 
superintending  the  education  of  his  large  family  of 
children.  Dr.  Johnson  called  upon  Hector  McLean, 
the  minister  of  Coll,  whom  he  found  in  a  house  of  one 
story  but  with  windows  and  chimney  and  very  well 
furnished.  4  4  Mr.  McLean  had  the  reputation  of  great 
learning;  was  seventy-seven  years  old,  but  not  infirm 


20 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


and  had  a  look  of  venerable  dignity,  excelling  what  I 
remember  in  any  other  man.  ’  ’ 

Donald  McLean  accompanied  Dr.  Johnson  to  Mull 
where  they  made  several  visits,  including  a  day  at 
the  home  of  Dr.  Alexander  McLean.  From  Mull  they 
went  to  the  isle  of  Inch  Kenneth  where  they  were  the 
honored  guests  of  Sir  Allan  McLean,  ‘  ‘  the  chieftain  of 
the  great  clan  of  McLean,  which  is  said  to  claim  the 
second  place  among  the  Highland  families,  yielding 
only  to  MacDonald.’ ’  Two  years  later  Sir  Allan 
McLean  was  in  command  of  a  small  force  in  Canada. 
Hearing  of  the  American  expedition  against  Quebec 
he  hastened  to  its  defense,  and  by  his  courage  and 
determination  kept  the  stronghold  from  falling  into 
the  hands  of  the  revolutionists,  before  Sir  Guy  Carle- 
ton,  the  governor,  could  reach  the  city.  Justin  H. 
Smith  in  Our  Struggle  for  the  Fourteenth  Colony 
gives  a  graphic  description  of  Sir  Allan’s  arrival  in 
Quebec  on  Sunday  morning,  November  12, 1775.  ‘  ‘  One 
of  the  ‘town  meetings’  was  in  session  at  the  chapel 
of  the  bishop’s  palace  and  a  Mr.  Williams  held  the 
pulpit,  preaching  the  doctrine  of  a  good  capitulation. 
Suddenly  a  noise  was  heard  at  the  door.  A  grim  old# 
man  entered  with  other  grim  men  behind  him,  listened 
an  instant  and  then  strode  fiercely  forward.  Even  in 
his  skin  he  would  have  been  taken  anywhere  for  a  sol¬ 
dier  and  a  royalist.  ‘  ‘  Out  of  that  pulpit !  ”  he  shouted. 
The  command  would  have  been  sufficient,  for  this  in¬ 
truder  was  Allan  McLean,  arrived  that  moment  from 
the  west;  but  in  an  instant  the  furious  Highlander 
pulled  Williams  down  by  the  arm,  and  began  exhort¬ 
ing  the  people  to  loyalty  with  a  slogan  and  broadsword 
eloquence.  ’  ’ 

This  same  Sir  Allan  McLean  conducted  Dr.  John- 


•Sir  Allan  McLean’s  age  at  this  time  was  only  fifty,  but  he  was  old 
In  military  service.  Johnson  and  Boswell  were  greatly  interested  in 
his  stories  of  the  campaigns  in  Canada  against  the  French  and  Indians. 


ORIGIN  OF  THE  CLAN 


21 


son  to  the  island  of  Iona,  or  Icolmkill,  whose  inhabi¬ 
tants  were  McLeans.  Possession  of  the  island  had 
passed  to  the  Duke  of  Argyle,  but  feudal  loyalty  still 
held,  though  the  chieftain  of  clan  McLean  had  not 
visited  Iona  for  fourteen  years.  Now  Sir  Allan  heard 
that  one  of  the  islanders  had  refused  to  send  him  some 
rum,  and  sharply  reproached  him.  The  man  strongly 
declared  his  loyalty  and  later  remarked  to  Boswell, 
‘Had  he  sent  his  dog  for  the  rum  he  should  have  had 
it.  I  would  cut  my  bones  for  him.,,  This  small  is¬ 
land,  separated  by  a  slight  arm  of  the  sea  from  the 
west  point  of  Mull,  was  famous  as  the  ancient  center 
of  Christianity  and  education  for  all  of  Scotland.  It 
was  the  seat  of  Columba,  the  missionary  from  Ireland 
in  the  sixth  century,  who  has  been  called  the  apostle  of 
Caledonia.  Iona  came  to  be  considered  so  sacred  that 
people  nearing  death  journeyed  thither  to  die  where 
they  could  be  buried  in  its  soil.  When  Scotland  joined 
the  Reformation,  the  cathedral,  monastery  and  con¬ 
vent  of  Iona  were  destroyed  and  most  of  the  sepultural 
crosses  thrown  into  the  sea.  Lately  efforts  have  been 
made  to  restore  it  for  its  historic  interest.  Among 
the  crosses  preserved  is  one  of  McLean. 

While  traditions  of  the  clan  carry  its  origin  back 
to  the  fourth  century,  the  first  definite  appearance 
of  the  McLeans  in  history  was  nine  hundred  years 
later.  Like  the  rest  of  the  Scots  they  came  from  Ire¬ 
land  and  they  came  to  fight.  The  name  is  taken  from 
Gillean,  who  was  designated  “of  the  battle-axe, ’ ’  and 
was  descended  from  the  Fitzgerald  family  of  Ireland. 
The  family  name  MacGillean,  son  of  Gillean,  was  soon 
abbreviated  to  MacLean  or  McLean,  the  form  it  has 
continued  to  bear  through  the  centuries.  The  Mc¬ 
Leans  were  among  the  foremost  in  devotion  to  the 
Stuart  cause  against  Cromwell  and  later  against  the 
house  of  Hanover.  Into  the  battle  of  Inverkeithing 


22 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Hector  McLean  led  six  hundred  of  Ills  clansmen.  They 
fought  to  the  last,  and  it  is  not  known  that  even  one 
escaped.  Seven  brothers  in  succession  protected  their 
chieftain  with  their  own  bodies,  each  one  as  he  fell, 
calling,  ‘ i Another  for  Hector!”  Since  that  day  this 
has  been  the  battle-cry  of  the  clan. 

The  fact  that  the  cause  was  desperate  and  the  hope 
forlorn  never  stopped  the  McLeans.  Where  their 
chieftain  called  they  followed  without  a  word.  In  the 
uprising  of  1745,  in  the  interest  of  ‘ 4  Bonnie  Prince 
Charlie,”  they  bore  a  leading  part  in  the  victorious 
invasion  of  England  and  the  disastrous  retreat.  This 
culminated  in  the  battle  of  Culloden  where  live 
hundred  fought  with  McLean  of  Drimnin.  In  spite  of 
the  withering  fire  of  the  English,  the  Highlanders  con¬ 
tinued  to  advance  until  none  were  left  to  fight.  Their 
conduct  in  this  case  has  been  especially  celebrated 
since  they  went  into  the  battle  exhausted  by  long 
marches  and  lack  of  sleep  and  food. 

Not  only  the  neighboring  clans  but  the  different 
branches  of  each  warred  with  each  other  from  time  to 
time.  There  was  a  pitched  battle  between  McLean  of 
Lochbuy  and  McLean  of  Duart,  in  which  McLean  of 
Duart  was  defeated.  Lochbuy,  when  returning  home 
after  the  battle,  found  Duart  asleep  with  some  of  his 
men.  He  drew  his  dirk  and  twisted  it  into  the  hair 
of  his  rival  and  then  left  him.  When  Duart  awoke 
in  the  morning  and  found  his  hair  fastened  to  the 
ground  he  recognized  the  dirk,  and  the  two  families 
were  reconciled  and  ever  after  remained  fast  friends. 

The  castle  of  Duart,  located  on  the  northeastern 
point  of  the  island  of  Mull,  is  the  ancient  stronghold 
of  the  clan.  Its  tower  was  built  probably  not  later 
than  the  year  1270.  It  stands  on  a  high  cliff  inacces¬ 
sible  from  the  sea  on  two  sides.  After  innumerable 
vicissitudes  it  came,  in  1911  by  purchase,  into  full  pos- 


HEROIC  HISTORY 


23 


session  of  Sir  Fitzroy  Donald  MacLean,  the  twenty- 
sixth  chief  of  the  clan,  and  he  proceeded  to  restore  it  to 
its  pristine  condition.  In  1912  there  was  a  great 
gathering  of  the  clan  from  all  over  the  world  with  a 
brave  display  of  its  tartan,  extensive  reading  of 
poems,  new  and  old,  and  lengthy  recounting  of  tradi¬ 
tions,  all  interspersed  with  abundant  skirling  of  the 
bagpipes. 

The  lofty  scenes  around  our  sires  recall, 

Fierce  in  the  field  and  generous  in  the  hall  ; 

The  mountain-crag,  the  stream,  the  waving  tree, 
Breathe  forth  some  proud  and  glorious  history. 

Conspicuous  in  the  coat  of  arms  are  the  symbols  of 
heroism  and  religion.  A  cursory  examination  of  the 
history  of  the  clan  impresses  one  that  these  are  the 
chief  inheritance  of  its  members.  The  principal 
places  of  interest  for  travelers,  whether  they  be  sons 
of  the  blood  or  of  alien  birth,  are  the  castle  of  Duart 
and  the  cathedral  of  Iona;  and,  the  world  over,  wliere- 
ever  you  find  a  McLean  you  should  find  faith  and 
courage,  virtue  and  honor,  even  as  on  the  coat  of  arms. 


CHAPTER  II 


HIS  FATHER’S  HOUSE 


AUTHOR’S  JOURNEY  TO  PRINCE  EDWARD  ISLAND - SUMMERSIDE - SILVER 

FOXES,  LAMBS  AND  CANNED  LOBSTERS — BIRTHPLACE  OF  ARCHIBALD  MC  LEAN - 

PARENTS - BROTHERS  AND  SISTERS — SCHOOL  AND  FARM - ARCHIE  AND  JIM - 

FAMILY  RELIGION — MISSIONARY  INTEREST — JOHN  GEDDIE — MALCOLM  MC¬ 
LEAN'S  PRAYING  AND  BIBLE  READING — HIS  LOVE  OF  CHILDREN. 


NE  fine  day  early  in  August,  1921, 1  reached  Cape 


^  Tormentine,  New  Brunswick,  by  the  branch  rail¬ 
road  whose  principal  business  is  to  handle  traffic  to 
and  from  Prince  Edward  Island.  A  special  train  from 
the  Island  delayed  our  getting  out  on  the  mole  to  the 
boat.  This  train  was  carrying  650  young  men  to  the 
harvest  fields  of  Western  Canada.  Another  with  225 
passengers  of  the  same  sort  had  come  over  that  morn¬ 
ing.  The  grain  crop  on  the  Island  was  almost  a  failure 
from  drought,  and  work  of  every  sort  was  scarce.  The 
crop  of  young  men  seemed  to  be  abundant,  in  spite  of 
the  heavy  losses  suffered  in  the  war.  They  were  fine, 
hearty,  laughing  lads. 

When  finally  we  reached  the  steamer  we  found  it 
more  like  a  floating  dock  than  a  boat.  A  whole  train 
of  freight  cars  found  ample  space  on  its  lower  deck 
while  the  upper  deck  was  equal  to  caring  for  a  regi¬ 
ment  of  passengers.  This  steamer  is  no  fair  weather 
craft  but  traverses  the  nine  miles  between  the  main¬ 
land  and  the  Island  at  all  seasons  and  under  all  condi¬ 
tions,  even  breaking  the  ice  in  the  winter  and  keeping 
its  own  course  clear.  It  is  a  sister  ship  to  the  newest 
ice-breakers  of  the  Baltic  Sea  and  the  captain  in 
charge  had  seen  service  in  those  difficult  waters. 


24 


SUMMERSIDE 


On  the  way  across  I  fell  into  conversation  with  a 
commercial  traveler  who  was  born  in  the  Island  and 
whose  business  takes  him  back  frequently.  In  answer 
to  his  friendly  questions  I  told  him  I  was  gathering 
material  for  the  biography  of  a  man  from  the  Island 
who  had  spent  his  life  in  the  United  States.  ‘  ‘  Frank¬ 
lin  K.  Lane?”  “No.”  “Jacob  Gould  Schurman?” 
“No,  Archibald  McLean,  a  man  who  went  as  far  in  his 
own  field  as  either  Lane  or  Schurman  did  in  his.” 
Then  he  listened  with  evident  interest  while  I  told  him 
something  of  Mr.  McLean. 

There  is  a  railroad  running  the  length  of  the  Island 
with  convenient  branches  at  several  points.  One  of 
these  branches,  which  might  be  called  the  main  stem 
of  the  system,  connects  at  Borden  with  the  steamer 
from  Cape  Tormentine.  The  western  reach  of  the 
railroad  runs  through  Summerside,  one  of  the  three 
county  seat  towns  of  the  Island  and  a  place  forever 
associated  with  the  boyhood  of  Archibald  McLean.  It 
is  a  thriving  town  and  friendly.  W.  II.  Harding, 
minister  of  the  Christian  church,  was  away,  but  A. 
Sterling  McKay,  a  Presbyterian  elder,  illustrated  the 
good  feeling  that  prevails  between  the  congregations 
by  introducing  me  to  several  prominent  members  of 
the  Christian  church,  among  them  Maynard  F.  Schur¬ 
man,  a  brother  of  the  former  president  of  Cornell 
University,  now  United  States  minister  to  China.  Mr. 
McKay  and  Mr.  Schurman,  in  turn,  took  me  out  to  the 
McLean  farm  in  their  automobiles  and  otherwise  as¬ 
sisted  in  making  my  week  in  Summerside  both  pleasant 
and  fruitful  for  my  mission.  When  Mr.  Harding  re¬ 
turned  to  town  he  entered  heartily  into  my  quest  for 
facts  in  the  early  life  of  Mr.  McLean. 

Three  things  distinguish  Prince  Edward  Island 
today,  not  to  mention  its  important  dairy  interests. 
These  are  its  canned  lobsters,  its  lamb  chops  and  its 


26 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


silver  foxes.  Travelers  who  have  eaten  roast  lamb 
in  England,  Australia  and  California  declare  there  is 
a  sweetness  and  delicacy  about  the  lamb  of  Prince 
Edward  Island  that  is  equaled  nowhere  else.  A  more 
outstanding  and  demonstrable  preeminence  has  been 
attained  within  the  last  twenty  years  by  the  Island’s 
domesticated  silver  foxes.  This  lively  dog  has  a  coat 
of  thick,  soft,  black  fur,  shot  through  with  white  tipped 
hairs  three  inches  long  and  finished  off  with  two 
inches  of  solid  white  at  the  end  of  his  tail.  This  fur 
is  so  highly  esteemed  that,  after  the  Islanders  had  do¬ 
mesticated  the  foxes  and  demonstrated  that  they  could 
be  bred  in  captivity,  the  prices  of  the  registered  ones 
rose  to  fabulous  figures,  as  much  as  thirty  thousand 
dollars  being  paid  for  a  single  pair.  Since  the  war 
fox-farming  lias  reached  a  commercial  basis,  but  foxes 
are  still  worth  more  than  horses  or  cows. 

As  you  travel  through  the  Island  you  are  impressed 
by  its  rural  beauty.  Wheat  is  grown  in  only  small 
quantities  and  corn  scarcely  at  all  because  of  the  short¬ 
ness  of  the  season.  There  is  a  large  acreage  of  oats 
and  more  of  grass  both  for  hay  and  for  grazing.  The 
farms  are  of  moderate  size  and  well  kept.  The 
houses  are  mostly  of  frame  construction  and  neatly 
painted.  Many  have  shingled  or  clap-boarded  walls. 
You  will  scarcely  pass  two  farms  without  seeing 
a  high,  tight  board  enclosure,  usually  in  the  edge 
of  the  woods,  built  to  keep  foxes  in  and  thieves  out. 
When  you  are  admitted  through  the  locked  door  of 
this  barricade  you  find  it  divided  with  wire  netting 
into  pens  ten  to  twenty  feet  square.  In  each  pen  is  a 
family  of  foxes.  The  young  ones  are  especially  in¬ 
teresting  in  the  manifest  conflict  between  curiosity  and 
fear.  They  are  “just  dying”  to  see  you,  but  are 
afraid  something  will  happen  to  them  if  they  get 
close  enough  to  take  a  good  look.  If  brightness  of  eyes 


PRINCE  EDWARD  ISLAND 


were  any  indication  they  could  see  right  through  the 
board  fence. 

When  I  reached  the  McLean  home  I  found  a  young 
soldier  who  had  come  back  from  the  war,  a  grown 
daughter  who  had  returned  from  an  educational  so¬ 
journ  with  her  aunts  in  Boston,  and  other  promising 
members  of  the  Island’s  fourth  generation;  but  most 
interesting  of  all  were  the  younger  of  the  ten  children 
of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Malcolm  McLean.  Just  like  them, 
sixty  years  ago,  Archie  would  have  been  tom  between 
shyness  of  the  stranger  and  eagerness  to  learn;  with 
just  such  keenness  of  eye  and  ear  would  he  have  taken 
in  everything  new;  with  no  less  gladness  would  he 
have  run  to  bring  a  glass  of  water  for  the  visitor! 
How  I  longed  to  stop  and  live  with  them  a  while  and 
let  them  reproduce  for  me  the  boyhood  of  their  uncle 
who  went  out  into  the  world  asking  nothing  for  him¬ 
self  and  received  the  undying  affection  of  a  million 
souls ! 

In  the  summer  of  1840  John  McLean  of  Uigg,  Island 
of  Skye,  with  his  wife,  Margaret  Matheson,  and  their 
four  sons  and  three  daughters,  came  to  Prince  Edward 
Island,  as  did  many  of  their  neighbors,  before  and  af¬ 
ter  them.  They  found  a  densely  wooded  tract  of 
undulating,  fertile  land.  Jacques  Cartier,  in  1534,  dis¬ 
covered  the  Island  but  supposed  it  a  part  of  the  main¬ 
land.  The  French  made  little  use  of  it  and  finally, 
in  1763,  ceded  it  to  the  British.  In  1798  they  changed 
its  name  from  ‘ 4 Isle  St.  Jean,”  to  “Prince  Edward 
Island,  ’  ’  in  honor  of  Edward,  Duke  of  Kent,  the  father 
of  Queen  Victoria,  and  at  that  time  in  military  com¬ 
mand  at  Halifax.  The  waters  of  the  Gulf  of  St. 
Lawrence  surround  the  Island,  those  which  separate 
it  from  New  Brunswick  and  Nova  Scotia  being  called 
the  Straits  of  Northumberland.  These  are  from  nine 
to  thirty  miles  in  width.  From  east  to  west  the  length 


28 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


of  the  Island  is  one  hundred  forty-five  miles.  Its 
greatest  width  is  thirty-four  miles,  while  at  its 
narrowest  point,  between  opposite  bays  at  Summer- 
side,  it  is  only  three  miles  across. 

The  sailing  vessel  that  brought  the  McLeans  con¬ 
sumed  six  weeks  on  the  voyage.  None  but  hardy  and 
adventurous  spirits  braved  such  voyages  and  com¬ 
mitted  their  lives  and  their  families  to  a  new  and 
strange  land. 

It  was  not  long  after  their  arrival  in  the  Island  be¬ 
fore  Malcolm  McLean,  son  of  John,  married  Alexandra 
McKay  and  undertook  to  make  a  home  on  virgin  soil, 
sixteen  miles  east  of  the  town  of  Summerside. 

As  appears  later,  these  were  extraordinary  young 
people  in  an  extraordinary  group.  John  McKay,  the 
father  of  Alexandra,  was  held  in  high  esteem  as  a 
local  religious  leader.  He  was  ninety-five  years  of 
age  when  he  died  in  1843  and  was  referred  to  affec¬ 
tionately  for  years  afterward  as  “the  old  elder.”  He 
organized  several  churches  and  in  the  absence  of 
regular  ministers,  which  few  of  those  pioneer  congre¬ 
gations  had,  he  shepherded  the  little  flocks  in  the 
wilderness. 

That  his  daughter  followed  closely  in  the  spiritual 
steps  of  her  father  is  indicated  from  many  sources, 
including  a  passage  in  a  sermon  on  the  Lord’s  Supper, 
by  her  son  Archibald,  preached  in  the  first  year  of 
his  ministry  at  Mt.  Healthy,  Ohio,  August  15,  1874, 
the  twenty-first  anniversary  of  her  death. 

Of  all  the  days  in  the  year,  there  is  none  that  has  such  a 
tender  and  solemn  pathos  for  me  as  this.  There  is  none  that 
has  seared  itself  so  deep  in  my  memory.  And  as  the  years 
roll  away,  time  only  makes  its  impression  deeper.  This  day 
has  been  for  me  the  birthday  of  many  sorrows.  It  has  had 
a  greater  influence  on  my  life  and  in  shaping  my  destiny 
than  any  other.  It  is  the  anniversary  of  my  mother's  death. 
Twenty-one  years  ago  the  angel  whispered,  “Sister  Spirit, 


PARENTS 


29 


come  away.”  She  obeyed  the  summons  and  departed  to  the 
spirit  world.  I  have  no  recollection  of  that  sacred  hour ;  but 
my  elder  sisters  who  have  joined  her  since  on  that  radiant 
shore  gave  me  the  particulars  of  her  death.  She  had  only 
been  sick  a  few  days;  but  the  physician  informed  her  that 
her  case  was  hopeless.  She  knew  she  was  dying,  and  she 
gathered  all  her  children  around  her  and  told  us  that  she 
was  going  to  leave  us  forever.  She  requested  us  to  be  good 
and  to  love  each  other,  to  cherish  her  memory  and  to  meet 
her  in  the  heavenly  country,  and  then  she  kissed  us  each 
and  her  soul  left  its  tenement  of  clay  and  ascended  to  G-od 
who  gave  it. 

The  highest  possible  tribute  was  paid  to  Malcolm 
McLean  by  his  neighbors,  when  they  gradually  and 
quietly  promoted  him  to  the  place  left  vacant  by  the 
death  of  John  McKay. 

The  first  and  second  children  of  Malcolm  and  Alex¬ 
andra  McLean  were  daughters,  Mary  Jane  and  Mar¬ 
garet;  then  came  John.  Next  Archibald  was  born, 
September  6,  1849.  (This  is  the  date  written  by  his 
own  hand  in  the  matriculation  book  of  Bethany  Col¬ 
lege.)  Two  years  later  came  James  A.  and  two  years 
after  him  a  daughter,  the  price  of  whose  birth  was  the 
mother’s  life  and  the  sad  pride  of  whose  days  it  has 
been  to  wear  her  mother’s  name,  Alexandra. 

Margaret  married  James  Johnston,  an  Island  boy 
who  had  removed  to  Dubuque,  Iowa,  and  engaged  in 
boat-building  in  partnership  with  Judson  Gaylord. 
Some  of  the  famous  Diamond  Jo  Line  of  Mississippi 
River  steamboats  were  built  by  them.  The  eldest 
sister,  Mary  J ane,  made  her  home  with  Margaret  and 
married  Mr.  Gaylord,  but  was  stricken  with  smallpox 
on  her  wedding  day,  remained  with  her  sister  and 
died  within  a  few  days.  Three  or  four  days  later 
Mrs.  Johnston  died  of  the  same  disease.  The  over¬ 
whelming  grief  of  this  double  tragedy  in  the  place  of 
bridal  joy  is  past  imagination.  Only  the  robust  faith 


30 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


of  the  father  enabled  him,  after  many  days,  to  recover 
from  the  shock. 

When  John  had  completed  his  apprenticeship  as  a 
printer  at  Charlottetown,  he  went  to  New  York  where 
in  good  time  he  became  a  member  of  a  printing  firm. 
His  career  was  cut  short  by  a  fatal  railroad  accident 
on  a  trip  to  New  Orleans.  After  the  accident  Archi¬ 
bald  went  at  once  to  the  scene  and  then  and  later 
did  everything  that  a  brother  could  do. 

Alexandra  married  William  Catto,  of  Aberdeen, 
Scotland.  They  own  the  Hotel  Tudor  at  Nahant,  in 
Boston  Bay,  and  also  have  operated  hotels  in  Florida 
and  in  Washington,  D.  C. 

As  already  indicated,  the  mother  died  soon  after  the 
birth  of  Alexandra.  Under  the  most  favorable  cir¬ 
cumstances  a  family  of  six  small  children  bereft  of 
their  mother  is  a  forlorn  group.  It  must  have  been 
doubly  so  in  those  pioneer  days.  The  infant  daughter 
was  taken  to  the  home  of  an  aunt  where  she  continued 
to  live  until  grown.  But  the  older  daughters,  who  were 
the  oldest  of  the  group,  with  their  brothers,  John, 
Archibald  and  James,  the  father  kept  together  in  his 
own  home.  In  the  course  of  time  even  the  Scotch 
opposition  to  a  second  marriage  was  overcome  by  the 
children’s  need  of  a  mother  and  by  the  winsomeness 
of  Christy  McKay.  It  is  recounted  that  when  the  bride 
came  into  her  new  home  her  heart  went  out  instantly 
to  the  little  boys,  Archie  and  Jim,  and  she  set  about 
immediately  to  give  them  a  bath.  While  she  was 
doing  so  their  father  went  into  another  room  and  on 
his  knees  devoutly  thanked  God  for  giving  him  such 
a  good  mother  for  his  little  children.  Her  affection 
for  these  children  did  not  abate  but  seemed  even 
to  grow  stronger  with  the  birth  of  her  own  chil¬ 
dren.  The  children  themselves  never  made  any  differ¬ 
ence  between  the  first  group  of  six  and  the  second 


BROTHERS  AND  SISTERS 


31 


group  of  nine,  all  fifteen  growing  up  to  maturity  and 
going  out  into  the  world  as  one  family.  The  later 
children  playfully  insisted  that  their  mother  was  par¬ 
tial  to  the  earlier  group  and  especially  that  Archie 
and  Jim  were  her  pets.  In  proof  of  their  contention 
they  pointed  to  the  fact  that  after  these  two  were 
away  at  school,  whenever  they  came  home  for  vaca¬ 
tions  she  allowed  them  to  go  to  the  little  dairy  and 
drink  the  cream,  with  only  good-natured  or  half¬ 
earnest  remonstrances. 

Following  the  Highland  custom  of  using  the  same 
names  generation  after  generation  in  a  family,  we 
find  four  of  the  names  of  the  first  group  of  children 
repeated  in  the  second  group.  As  there  was  only  one 
McLean  family  in  the  neighborhood,  this  was  not  so 
confusing  as  in  the  case  of  the  McKays.  With  the 
McLeans  it  was  simply  “Big  Jim”  and  “Little  Jim,” 
but  with  the  McKay  family,  whose  favorite  name  was 
John,  there  was  a  “Big  John,”  “Little  John,” 
‘  ‘  Hughie  (Hugh  ’s )  Big  J ohn,  ”  “  Hughie  Little  J ohn, ’  ’ 
and  so  on  to  the  end  of  the  list. 

Of  the  daughters  of  the  second  group  of  children, 
Christine  married  William  Whitehead,  a  farmer  liv¬ 
ing  only  two  or  three  miles  from  the  old  home,  and  on 
the  road  from  Clifton  to  Margate.  This  is  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  places  in  the  Island.  Archibald 
spent  much  time  there  on  his  vacations  and  loved  es¬ 
pecially  the  view  of  the  Southwest  River  and  the  hills 
beyond.  Mrs.  Whitehead  is  the  only  sister  of  the 
younger  group  who  has  died.  Mary  married  Alex¬ 
ander  Glennie,  a  produce  commission  merchant  of 
Boston.  Sarah  married  George  N.  Cannon,  a  car- 
riagemaker  of  the  Island.  Later  they  removed  to 
Boston  where  they  have  been  active  in  church  work 
and  regular  attendants  at  the  New  England  conven¬ 
tions  of  Disciples  of  Christ.  Nettie  married  Alex¬ 
ander  R.  Buntain,  an  Island  farmer  now  retired  and 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Q9 

U*J 

living  at  Kensington.  Margaret  married  Ephraim 
Read,  a  marine  engineer,  who  is  now  manager  of  a 
shipping  company  in  Vancouver,  British  Columbia. 

Malcolm  McLean  shared  the  conviction  of  many 
wise  men  that  every  boy  should  learn  a  trade.  As  fast 
as  his  sons  finished  their  studies  at  Graham’s  Road 
school  he  apprenticed  each  to  a  master  in  some  skilled 
and  useful  occupation. 

The  rule  was  modified  in  the  case  of  James  A.  at  the 
suggestion  of  his  oldest  brother,  John,  whose  discov¬ 
eries  and  experience  as  a  printer  led  him  to  urge  that 
James  should  be  a  brain-worker  rather  than  a  hand¬ 
worker.  This  was  the  more  readily  agreed  to  since 
many  of  their  ancestors  had  been  teachers  in  Scot¬ 
land.  By  winning  a  scholarship  James  A.  was  able 
to  attend  Prince  of  Wales  College  at  Charlottetown. 
After  teaching  school  a  few  years  in  the  Island  and  in 
Nova  Scotia,  he  made  a  tour  of  the  world  and  spent 
five  years  as  professor  of  mathematics  in  the  college 
at  Ballarat,  near  Melbourne,  Australia.  Returning  to 
Canada  he  graduated  in  law  from  Halifax  Univer¬ 
sity,  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia.  His  home  for  thirty  years 
has  been  at  Bridgewater,  Nova  Scotia,  and  he  has 
been  accounted  one  of  the  leading  lawyers  of  the 
province. 

J ames  R.  learned  the  trade  of  tailor  in  Summerside, 
and  later  went  into  business  for  himself  in  Sussex, 
New  Brunswick,  where  he  is  a  successful  merchant. 
John  William  and  Malcolm  remained  on  the  farm,  the 
former  being  now  located  at  Union  Road,  Lot  33, 
Prince  Edward  Island,  and  the  latter  at  the  old  home. 

Following  the  example  of  Archibald,  Daniel  went 
into  the  ministry,  for  which  he  seemed  eminently 
fitted,  both  by  his  native  talents  and  his  extraordinary 
spirituality.  One  of  the  tragedies  of  the  family  his¬ 
tory  was  the  breaking  down  of  his  health,  followed 


BROTHERS  AND  SISTERS 


33 


after  some  months  by  his  death  before  he  had  com¬ 
pleted  preparation  for  his  life  work.  After  hearing 
so  much  of  Daniel,  I  was  surprised  to  discover  that 
the  name  does  not  appear  in  the  family  records,  where 
we  find  Donald  instead.  A  visit  to  the  New  London 
cemetery  deepens  the  confusion.  There  we  find  chis¬ 
eled  in  the  marble : 

Daniel 

Died  September  22, 1884 
Age  26 

On  inquiry,  we  get  the  following  explanation.  The 
family  abbreviation  for  Donald  was  4 4 Dan,’ ’  just  as 
Malcolm  was  shortened  to  “Mack.”  When  scarcely 
grown  Dan  came  into  prominence  as  a  temperance 
advocate.  There  was  much  opposition  to  the  move¬ 
ment  but  his  courage  and  patience  were  equal  to  every 
test.  One  evening  in  the  Temperance  Lodge,  after  he 
had  made  a  fine  address,  the  audience  arose  and  sang, 

Dare  to  be  a  Daniel, 

Dare  to  stand  alone, 

Dare  to  have  a  purpose  true, 

Dare  to  make  it  known. 

Thereafter  by  common  usage  his  name  became  Daniel. 
Finally  both  his  family  and  he  himself  accepted  the 
change. 

Both  school  life  and  farm  life  were  serious  matters 
in  the  early  days  on  the  Island.  The  public  school 
system  was  established  in  1852.  The  Graham’s  Road 
school,  which  was  attended  by  the  McLean  children, 
like  the  McLean  farm,  was  on  the  dividing  ridge  of  the 
Island  and  scarcely  a  mile  distant  from  the  home. 
School  ‘ 4 kept”  for  the  twelve  months  of  the  year,  ex¬ 
cepting  for  a  vacation  of  some  two  weeks  in  the  spring 
and  a  like  period  in  the  fall,  the  former  for  the  plant¬ 
ing  and  the  latter  for  the  digging  of  potatoes.  Nat- 


34 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 

urally  there  were  other  occasions  when  the  larger 
hoys  were  kept  out  of  school  for  short  periods  to  help 
at  home,  but  these  interruptions  were  scrupulously 
held  to  the  minimum  both  in  number  and  in  length. 

The  Graham’s  Road  school  was  particularly  blessed 
with  good  teachers,  and  children  of  naturally  keen 
minds  advanced  rapidly.  In  Archibald’s  boyhood 
Henry  Lawson  conducted  the  school  for  several  years. 
Later  he  became  editor  of  The  Patriot  at  Charlotte¬ 
town,  and  still  later  removed  to  British  Columbia 
where  he  took  a  prominent  part  in  the  development  of 
the  new  province.  After  him  came  Donald  McKay 
who  not  only  gave  his  students  thorough  instruction 
but  inspired  them  with  such  desire  for  a  complete 
education  that  some  of  them  endured  many  privations 
to  go  through  college. 

The  McLean  farm  was  so  densely  wooded  that  only 
a  small  portion  of  it  could  be  cleared  at  a  time.  Each 
of  the  boys  in  succession  had  his  share  in  this  pioneer 
work.  Every  year  they  cleared  a  few  acres  and 
burned  on  the  ground  the  brush  and  such  timber  as 
could  not  be  put  to  immediate  use.  The  richness  of 
the  new  land  fertilized  with  wood  ashes  made  a  per¬ 
fect  soil  for  potatoes.  But  all  the  work  had  to  be  done 
by  hand  as  the  stumps  were  too  close  together  for  the 
use  of  a  plough.  The  second  year  they  planted  the 
ground  with  buckwheat  or  oats.  The  third  year  they 
took  out  the  stumps  by  a  simple  but  laborious  process. 
First  they  dug  about  the  roots,  cut  all  but  the  larger 
ones,  and  removed  the  earth  from  those.  Then  they 
set  a  heavy  pole  upright  and  lashed  it  to  the  stump, 
having  first  tied  a  long  chain  or  rope  to  the  top  end  of 
the  pole.  A  team  of  horses  hitched  to  the  end  of  the 
chain  easily  pulled  the  stump  loose  from  the  earth. 
It  was  then  moved  to  the  edge  of  the  field  where  it  be¬ 
came  part  of  the  stump  fence. 

In  addition  to  his  skill  in  all  departments  of  fanning 


SCHOOL  AND  FARM 


as  practiced  in  his  day,  which  included  making  shoes 
for  his  family  as  well  as  raising  grain  for  their  food, 
Malcolm  McLean  was  a  first-rate  stone  mason.  Chim¬ 
neys  and  cellar  walls  of  neighboring  houses  and  cul¬ 
verts  of  the  Prince  Edward  Island  Railroad,  still 
standing  as  true  and  firm  as  when  they  were  built 
forty  or  fifty  years  ago,  testify  to  his  workmanship 
and  integrity. 

Harvest  time  was  always  a  strenuous  season  on  the 
farm.  The  grain  that  grew  among  the  stumps  had  to 
be  cut  out  with  reaping  hooks.  Even  after  the  land 
was  stumped  they  depended  upon  the  scythe.  At 
other  seasons  the  farmers  exchanged  work,  as  many 
as  six  sometimes  being  engaged  on  the  McLean  farm 
at  one  time.  But  the  harvest  season  came  to  all  the 
farmers  at  once  and  each  family  had  to  take  care  of 
its  own  grain.  One  of  the  well  remembered  pictures 
shows  the  giant  father,  Malcolm  McLean,  cutting 
the  grain  with  a  mighty  sweep  of  his  scythe;  fol¬ 
lowing  him  the  smallest  boy,  Jim,  laid  out  the 
bands ;  Archie  gathered  the  grain  into  bundles 
and  laid  them  on  the  bands;  while  John,  the 
eldest  of  the  three,  bound  the  bundles  which  the 
girls,  who  were  still  older,  set  up  in  shocks. 
There  was  a  great  deal  of  the  atmosphere  of  picnic 
and  harvest  home  about  it,  but  none  the  less  when 
darkness  fell  their  young  muscles  were  wearied  to  the 
point  of  exhaustion.  Nor  was  it  the  grain  harvest  only 
that  made  the  boys  tired.  Once  when  they  were  weed¬ 
ing  potatoes  together  and  had  been  watching  the  sun 
closely  as  the  workers  in  offices  or  factories  are  said 
to  watch  the  clock,  Archie  remarked  to  Jim,  “I  can 
understand  how  the  sun  and  moon  stood  still  for 
Joshua.” 

When  the  British  first  took  possession  of  Prince  Ed¬ 
ward  Island  they  parceled  out  practically  all  of  it  in 
grants  to  army  officers  and  others  who,  with  their  sue- 


36 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


cessors,  continued  as  absentee  landlords  until  the 
Island  became  a  part  of  the  Dominion  of  Canada  in 
1873.  Then  the  government  allowed  the  tenants  to 
purchase  their  farms  in  fee  simple,  making  their  pay¬ 
ments  over  a  period  of  fifteen  years.  Originally  the 
Island  was  divided  into  sixty-seven  lots,  most  of  which 
were  long  and  narrow  in  order  that  each  might  have 
sea  frontage.  Within  these  lots  the  farms  were  laid 
out,  and  naturally  took  the  form  of  strips  rather  than 
blocks.  Malcolm  McLean’s  farm  extended  from  west 
of  north  to  east  of  south  and  sloped  principally  to  the 
south  side  of  the  Island.  His  home  he  built  on  a  level 
stretch  of  ground  where  it  commands  a  fine  view 
across  the  adjoining  farms  to  wooded  hills  in  the  dis¬ 
tance.  It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  more  attractive  scene 
than  Archie  McLean  looked  out  upon  every  morning 
as  he  came  forth  from  his  father’s  house. 

The  house,  still  occupied  by  the  family,  is  a  story  - 
and-a-half  frame  cottage,  painted  white,  and  sur¬ 
rounded  by  a  pleasant  dooryard  set  with  fruit  trees. 
To  the  west  of  it  is  a  complete  assortment  of  farm 
buildings  ending  in  two  barns,  one  on  the  north  side 
and  the  other  on  the  west  side  of  the  barnyard.  This 
order  of  barn  building  is  followed  in  the  Island  to  pro¬ 
tect  the  live  stock  from  the  severe  north  and  west 
winds  in  winter.  The  whole  situation,  practically  un¬ 
changed  since  Archibald’s  boyhood,  speaks  of  in¬ 
dustry,  thrift  and  comfort. 

One  of  the  favorite  resorts  of  the  children,  espe¬ 
cially  of  Archie  and  Jim,  was  the  great  spring  in  the 
woods  from  which  a  brook  flows  down  through  the 
farm  a  short  distance  north  of  the  house.  In  the  bark 
of  the  trees  they  cut  their  names.  They  tied  saplings 
together  so  that  they  grew  into  one.  On  their  vaca¬ 
tions  or  when  they  returned  home  for  brief  visits  this 
resort  was  one  of  the  first  places  the  boys  sought. 


ARCHIE  AND  JIM 


37 


Devoted  comrades  as  these  two  brothers  were  they 
did  not  agree  on  everything.  Archie  liked  a  hard  bed 
and  Jim  liked  a  soft  one.  Both  kinds  were  on  the  bed¬ 
stead  which  they  occupied,  so  whichever  brother  re¬ 
tired  first  put  his  preference  on  top  and  let  the  other 
make  the  best  of  it  when  he  came.  One  evening  Archie 
got  in  late  and  found  James  cozily  slumbering  in  the 
softness  of  the  feathers.  Without  any  hesitation  he 
picked  up  the  sleeper  and  his  feather  mattress,  laid 
them  gently  on  the  floor  and  went  to  bed  himself  on  the 
firm  mattress,  thus  uncovered.  His  prejudice  against 
feather  beds  persisted  throughout  his  life. 

An  amusing  illustration  of  this  aversion  occurred 
in  1896,  when  he  visited  the  Mungen  Church  in  Wood 
County,  Ohio.  Dr.  S.  M.  Cook,  a  rare  combination  of 
country  physician  and  rural  pastor,  was  the  minister, 
and  Mr.  McLean  was  entertained  in  his  home.  The 
occasion  was  the  annual  Children’s  Day,  the  first  Sun¬ 
day  in  June,  when  the  Sunday  schools  of  the  Disciples 
are  accustomed  to  make  their  contributions  to  foreign 
missions.  The  address  was  one  of  the  secretary’s 
greatest  and  the  offering  was  over  three  hundred  dol¬ 
lars.  Before  retiring  the  first  night  he  told  his  hostess 
that  he  could  not  endure  feathers  on  his  bed.  “They 
just  set  me  wild  and  drive  all  sleep  from  me,”  he  said. 
Mrs.  Cook  told  him  he  need  have  no  fears  about  feath¬ 
ers,  that  she  had  made  preachers  ’  beds  for  twenty-five 
years  and  never  heard  any  complaint.  She  had  put 
a  feather  tick  on  springs  and  then  laid  a  heavy  com¬ 
forter  over  it.  The  next  morning  he  remarked  that  he 
had  enjoyed  a  “splendid  night’s  rest,  for  who  could 
not  sleep  with  such  a  comfortable  bed,  a  good  con¬ 
science  and  such  a  fine  Children’s  Day  offering!”  He 
had  not  discovered  the  feathers  and  was  not  informed 
about  them,  which  is  a  pity,  since  he  would  have  en¬ 
joyed  the  joke. 


38 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Malcolm  McLean  accounted  religion  the  first  neces¬ 
sary  of  life.  He  opened  the  day  with  the  reading  of 
the  Scriptures,  the  singing  of  psalms  or  hymns  and  an 
earnest  prayer  of  thanksgiving  and  of  petition  for  di¬ 
vine  guidance.  At  the  end  of  the  day  he  held  a  similar 
service.  He  allowed  no  occupation  or  distraction  to 
interfere  with  this  custom. 

Within  a  radius  of  twenty  miles  of  the  McLean  home 
there  were  nine  or  ten  Scotch  Presbyterian  congrega¬ 
tions  that  were  closely  associated.  These  churches 
laid  great  stress  upon  the  annual  observance  of  the 
Lord’s  Supper,  which  they  spoke  of  as  the  celebration 
of  the  Sacrament.  The  several  neighboring  parishes 
arranged  the  observance  for  different  weeks,  so  that 
the  people  of  one  parish  could  attend  services  in  any 
other  parish.  The  Sacrament  season  in  each  church 
was  from  Thursday  to  Monday,  inclusive,  of  the  ap¬ 
pointed  week.  Thursday  was  a  fast  day  and  the  strict 
people  would  not  eat  nor  allow  their  children  to  eat 
until  the  service  at  the  church  was  over.  They  con¬ 
ducted  these  services  both  in  English  and  in  Gaelic, 
one  in  the  church  building  and  the  other  in  the 
open.  Friday  they  spent  in  catechizing  the  young. 
Saturday  they  devoted  to  the  preparatory  service.  At 
this  time,  or  on  Sunday  morning,  the  authorities  gave 
out  bronze  tokens  to  all  of  the  communicants.  Sunday, 
of  course,  was  the  day  of  the  celebration,  and  no  one 
who  did  not  have  a  token  was  allowed  to  partake. 
Monday  they  observed  as  a  thanksgiving  day.  People 
were  known  to  walk  as  far  as  twenty  miles  for  these 
services  and  to  remain  from  Thursday  to  Monday. 
As  many  as  forty  or  fifty  were  sometimes  entertained 
at  the  McLean  home. 

A  few  weeks  before  his  death,  I  asked  Archibald 
McLean  how  he  came  to  enter  the  ministry.  He  an¬ 
swered,  “I  hardly  know.”  When  I  repeated  this 


FAMILY  RELIGION 


39 


conversation  to  Mrs.  Catto,  she  instantly  remarked, 
“I  can  tell  yon.  Reared  as  he  was,  it  was  scarcely 
possible  for  him  to  be  anything  else  than  a  minister. 
I  myself  wanted  to  be  a  foreign  missionary.  ’  ’ 

Missionary  interest  was  not  common  in  that  day. 
How  did  it  reach  the  McLean  family  ?  Did  Archibald, 
as  well  as  his  sister,  feel  it?  It  is  easy  to  find  a  clear 
answer  to  each  of  these  questions.  The  interest  came 
in  what  we  may  call  a  line  of  apostolic  succession  from 
William  Carey,  and  it  laid  hold  of  Archibald  McLean 
with  a  grip  that  held  till  death. 

The  early  reports  of  Carey’s  work  in  India  inspired 
a  group  of  men  in  the  Independent  (Congregational), 
Anglican,  Presbyterian  and  Wesleyan  churches  to 
emulate  the  organization  of  the  Baptist  Missionary 
Society,  which  supported  Carey,  by  establishing  the 
London  Missionary  Society  in  1795.  Captain  Cook’s 
account  of  his  voyages  and  discoveries  among  the 
South  Sea  Islands,  showing  the  rare  beauty  and  fer¬ 
tility  of  their  land  and  the  utter  savagery  of  their 
inhabitants,  caused  the  new  society  to  send  its  first 
group  of  twenty-nine  missionaries  to  Tahiti  in  1796. 
The  publications  of  the  society,  telling  of  the  perils, 
successes  and  martyrdoms  of  its  missionaries,  reached 
a  Scotch  lad,  John  Geddie,  at  Pictou,  Nova  Scotia,  and 
led  him  to  dedicate  his  life  to  missions,  unaware  that 
his  parents  had  consecrated  him  to  the  same  task  in 
his  infancy.  Finding  no  way  of  realizing  his  purpose 
at  once,  in  1838  he  accepted  appointment  as  minister 
of  the  Cavendish  and  New  London  Presbyterian 
Churches  in  Prince  Edward  Island.  In  those  churches 
and  throughout  the  Island  he  preached  foreign  mis¬ 
sions  and  practiced  home  missions  so  effectively  for 
seven  years  that  the  Synod  determined  to  send  a  mis¬ 
sionary  to  the  New  Hebrides  Islands,  where  John 
Williams  of  the  London  Missionary  Society  had  been 


40 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


killed  and  eaten  by  the  natives  in  1839.  They  chose 
John  Geddie  as  their  first  representative.  He  imme¬ 
diately  resigned  his  pastorates  and  became  the  first 
missionary  sent  out  by  any  colony  of  Great  Britain. 
The  McLean  home  was  only  six  miles  from  the  New 
London  Church  and  within  the  immediate  scope  of 
John  Geddie’s  influence. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Geddie  and  their  three  children  were 
nearly  twenty  months  reaching  their  field.  From 
Newburyport,  Massachusetts,  to  Honolulu  they  sailed 
170  days  and  19,429  miles  without  touching  land.  Let¬ 
ters  from  home  were  often  two  years  on  the  way.  The 
four  thousand  inhabitants  of  Aneityum  wTere  the  most 
savage  cannibals  and  spoke  a  language  that  had  never 
been  reduced  to  writing.  When  the  Geddies  beheld 
their  utter  viciousness  and  degradation  they  sent  one 
of  their  daughters  home  by  the  missionary  ship  John 
Williams  which  had  brought  them  from  Samoa.  But 
they  always  spoke  with  confidence  of  the  final  triumph 
of  the  gospel  in  the  New  Hebrides,  which  Captain  Cook 
had  named  in  1774  because  of  their  outward  resem¬ 
blance  to  the  Hebrides  Islands  of  Scotland,  the  ances¬ 
tral  home  of  the  McLeans.  The  name  itself  could  not 
fail  to  add  somewhat  to  the  growing  sense  of  respon¬ 
sibility  which  the  Canadian  Highlanders  felt  for  the 
redemption  of  the  New  Hebrides. 

In  a  lecture  only  a  few  months  before  his  death 
Archibald  McLean  told  how  Aneityum,  the  name  of 
Geddie’s  island,  was  a  household  word  in  Prince 
Edward  Island;  of  how  the  children  of  the  Island,  of 
Nova  Scotia  and  of  Australia  gave  the  money  to  build 
the  missionary  ship  Dayspring  for  the  New  Hebrides 
mission,  his  sole  treasured  sixpence  going  into  the  col¬ 
lection;  of  how  the  two  Gordon  brothers,  martyrs  in 
turn  in  the  island  of  Eromanga  where  they  had  fol¬ 
lowed  John  Williams,  had  gone  out  from  Alberton, 


41 


JOHN  GEDDIE 

only  twenty-five  miles  from  his  home;  of  how  Donald 
Morrison,  another  recruit  and  comrade  of  Geddie ’s, 
before  he  sailed  in  the  Dayspring  for  the  New  Heb¬ 
rides,  was  often  in  the  McLean  home;  of  hearing 
Geddie  speak,  when  he  came  home  on  furlough  after 
fifteen  years  of  service,  and  of  the  ineffaceable  impres¬ 
sion  made  upon  his  mind  by  Geddie’s  frequent  and 
fervent  use  of  the  term  ‘ 4 King  Jesus.” 

While  Archibald  McLean  was  in  college  John  Geddie 
died  in  Australia,  whither  he  had  gone  to  look  after 
the  translation  of  the  Old  Testament.  He  had  showed 
marvelous  skill  in  learning  the  speech,  gaining  the 
confidence  and  transforming  the  lives  of  the  islanders. 
He  was  a  comrade  and  counselor  of  Bishop  Selwyn 
and  Bishop  Patteson  and  inducted  John  G.  Paton  into 
the  work  that  made  him  illustrious.  Behind  his  pulpit 
in  Aneityum  his  children  in  the  gospel  placed  a  tablet 
which  records  his  victory  for  all  time. 

“When  he  came  among  us  in  1848  there  were  no 
Christians  here;  when  he  left  us  in  1872  there  were  no 
heathen. ’  ’ 

While  Geddie ’s  influence  was  thus  prevailing  in 
Aneityum,  it  continued  to  grow  among  such  devout 
souls  as  Malcolm  McLean,  with  whom  prayer  was  not 
a  formal  exercise,  but  a  vital  reality.  The  stated  sea¬ 
sons  of  communion  with  God  were  unfailingly  ob¬ 
served,  just  as  one  does  not  neglect  to  say  “Good 
morning”  and  “Good  night”  to  those  with  whom  he  is 
associated.  But  we  do  not  limit  our  conversations 
with  our  closest  friends  and  comrades  to  the  greetings 
of  the  morning  and  evening,  but  touch  upon  matters  of 
mutual  interest  throughout  the  day.  Thus  naturally 
did  Malcolm  McLean  talk  with  God,  and  a  definite  con¬ 
viction  of  the  divine  presence  inevitably  became  fixed 
in  the  minds  of  his  children. 

He  was  master  both  of  the  English  and  of  the  Gaelic 


42 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


language  but  taught  his  children  only  English.  He 
and  his  wife  even  refrained  from  using  Gaelic  in  their 
presence.  It  was  a  common  practice,  while  he  was 
making  or  mending  shoes  in  the  long  evenings,  to 
have  one  of  the  children  read  aloud  to  the  family  group 
from  some  masterpiece  like  Bunyan’s  Pilgrim’s  Pr og¬ 
ress  ,  D’Aubigne’s  History  of  the  Reformation ,  Mil¬ 
ton’s  Paradise  Lost  or  Baxter’s  Saints’  Everlasting 
Rest.  But  the  chief  study  was  always  the  Bible.  In 
this  each  child  learned  a  definite  lesson  every  day,  and 
every  Sunday  passed  a  thorough  review  of  the  lessons 
of  the  week.  Supplementing  this  the  father  gave  them 
careful  instruction  in  the  Shorter  Catechism. 

The  Bible,  however,  was  to  this  patriarch  far  more 
than  a  book  to  study.  It  was  literally  the  man  of  his 
counsel.  He  read  it  not  only  at  stated  seasons  but 
turned  to  it  with  delight  whenever  opportunity  offered. 
During  the  last  years  of  his  life  he  read  scarcely  any¬ 
thing  else.  As  he  approached  his  ninety-fifth  year, 
in  which  he  died,  he  would  read  until  he  fell  asleep 
and  the  book  dropped  from  his  hands. 

With  the  same  sense  of  reality  in  the  divine  pres¬ 
ence  he  would  kneel  to  pray  at  various  times  through¬ 
out  the  day.  After  the  joints  of  his  stalwart  form  be¬ 
came  so  stiff  from  age  that  he  could  not  rise  from  the 
floor  without  help,  his  daughter  with  whom  he  was 
living  asked  him,  “Father,  do  you  not  think  that  God 
can  hear  you  just  as  well  without  your  kneeling  1” 
“Yes,  daughter,  certainly.”  But  when  the  impulse  to 
pray  came  upon  him  again,  the  life-long  habit  would 
reassert  itself  and  he  would  drop  to  his  knees. 

After  he  gave  the  operation  of  the  farm  over  to  his 
sons,  Malcolm  McLean  spent  much  time  not  only  with 
his  own  children  that  were  living  elsewhere,  but  with 
other  relatives  and  some  intimate  friends.  There 
were  a  number  of  households  that  thus  claimed  at 


MALCOLM  MCLEAN 

Father  of  Archibald  and  fourteen  others,  all  of  whom  attained  maturity. 
This  photograph  shows  him  at  92.  He  lived  to  be  95. 


HIS  FATHER’S  LOVE  OF  CHILDREN  43 


least  a  week  each  year,  and  the  children,  especially, 
in  these  homes  looked  forward  with  great  joy  to  his 
coming.  Stern  as  he  was  in  the  discipline  of  his  home 
and  rigid  in  his  moral  principles,  he  is  remembered 
most  of  all  for  his  gentleness  and  geniality. 

Malcolm  McLean’s  love  for  little  children  was  not 
limited  to  those  of  his  own  household  or  his  neighbors, 
though  the  strength  of  his  devotion  to  them  was  in¬ 
dicated  by  the  fact  that  after  he  went  to  Boston  to  be 
with  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Glennie,  who  had  no  children, 
he  began  to  ask  at  once  if  she  could  not  have  two  of  the 
grandchildren  come  on  from  the  Island  and  stay  with 
them.  He  also  took  a  keen  interest  in  the  children  of 
the  Boston  streets  and  won  such  a  place  in  their  hearts 
that  when  he  died  a  dozen  ragged,  unkempt  urchins 
came  to  the  house  and  craved  admission.  As  they  filed 
into  the  room  and  stood  looking  reverently  at  the  smil¬ 
ing  face  of  their  aged  friend,  one  of  them  spoke  for  the 
group,  4 ‘Oh,  but  he  was  a  good  sort!” 


CHAPTER  III 


LEARNING  HIS  TRADE 

APPRENTICED  TO  AN  UNCLE  AND  THEN  TO  WILLIAM  TUPLIN — SEPARATION 
FROM  JIM  AND  LIFELONG  DEVOTION  TO  HIM — AFFECTION  EXTENDED  TO  HIS 

SONS - TERMS  AND  CONDITIONS  OF  APPRENTICESHIP - EXCELLENCE  OF  TUP- 

LIN'S  WORK — MC  LEAN'S  PASSION  FOR  PERFECTION. 

nPHERE  is  nothing  to  indicate  why  Malcolm 
McLean  gave  his  son  Archibald  the  trade  of  car¬ 
riage  building,  except  that  it  was  one  of  the  most 
necessary  and  highly  skilled  crafts  practiced  in  the 
Island  at  that  time.  The  fact  that  an  uncle  by  mar¬ 
riage  was  a  carriage  builder  may  have  had  some  influ¬ 
ence.  Archibald  began  the  work  with  his  uncle,  but 
there  was  such  a  marked  degree  of  Scottish  incompati¬ 
bility  between  the  two  that  the  wise  father  sent  the 
boy  to  William  Tuplin  at  Margate,  a  country  village 
three  or  four  miles  from  the  home. 

Mr.  Tuplin  had  learned  the  trade  from  his  own 
father  and  then  had  spent  eight  or  ten  years  in  Boston 
with  one  of  the  best  carriage  builders  of  that  time. 
His  own  extraordinary  skill  and  that  which  he  de¬ 
veloped  in  his  apprentices  enabled  his  shop  from  year 
to  year  to  take  the  prize  at  the  exhibition  in  Summer- 
side.  A  famous  English  carriage  builder  was  present 
on  one  of  these  occasions  and  admired  William  Tup¬ 
lin  ’s  prize-winning  work  so  greatly  that  he  bought 
the  carriage  and  shipped  it  back  to  England  to  show 
the  people  of  the  mother  country  to  what  a  high  state 
of  perfection  his  art  had  been  carried  in  the  new  world. 

Archie’s  leaving  home  broke  the  companionship  be¬ 
tween  him  and  Jim.  The  younger  partner  felt  the 


44 


APPRENTICED  TO  WILLIAM  TUPLIN  45 


separation  so  keenly  that  after  a  few  days  he  got  per¬ 
mission  to  walk  across  country,  through  snow  and 
slush  that  was  ankle  deep,  that  he  might  spend  the 
night  with  Archie.  In  after  years  this  affection  per¬ 
sisted  in  spite  of  distance  and  time.  They  visited  each 
other  at  every  chance  and  each  felt  great  pride  in  the 
other’s  achievements.  Archibald’s  trip  around  the 
world  happened  to  follow  very  closely  the  course  taken 
by  the  younger  brother  more  than  twenty  years  before. 
When  in  Australia  he  made  it  a  point  to  meet  many 
of  the  old  friends  of  James,  and  at  Jerusalem  turned 
the  musty  pages  of  the  hotel  register  until  he  found  his 
brother’s  signature. 

Naturally  he  was  deeply  interested  in  his  brother’s 
children.  The  younger  son  was  named  Archibald  in 
his  honor.  The  elder  son,  Thomas  Malcolm,  had 
nearly  finished  his  law  course  at  Dalhousie  University, 
where  he  took  first  rank  in  scholarship,  when  the  world 
war  broke  out.  He  enlisted  at  once  in  a  Nova  Scotia 
regiment  of  Highlanders.  His  letters  from  the  front 
to  his  uncle  indicate  regular  correspondence  and  great 
affection  between  them.  He  had  won  a  captaincy. 
Three  months  before  the  armistice  he  fell,  after  taking 
command  of  the  battalion  when  his  major  was  sniped. 
They  died  within  an  hour  of  each  other  and  were 
buried  side  by  side.  The  colonel  of  the  regiment,  a 
brother  of  the  major,  himself  wounded  and  in  the  hos¬ 
pital,  wrote  a  full  account  of  Tom’s  service,  advance¬ 
ment  and  sterling  character.  It  showed  him  just  such 
a  soldier  as  A.  McLean  would  have  been  and  the  uncle 
kept  a  copy  of  the  letter  with  the  nephew’s  photo¬ 
graphs. 

The  apprenticeship  system  of  the  last  century  was 
designed  both  to  give  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the 
trade  to  the  boy  and  ample  profits  to  the  master.  Wil¬ 
liam  Tuplin  usually  had  fifteen  apprentices  and  no 


46 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


journeyman  in  his  carriage  shop.  The  most  skillful 
apprentice  in  the  group  served  as  foreman.  When 
Archie  McLean  was  only  half  through  his  five  year 
term  of  service  this  distinction  came  to  him,  proving 
that  the  master  was  sincere  when  he  told  Malcolm 
McLean  that  Archie  was  the  best  apprentice  he  ever 
had.  At  about  the  same  time  Mr.  Tuplin  sold  the  Mar¬ 
gate  business  to  William  Pound,  who  had  previously 
been  his  foreman,  and  opened  up  a  new  shop  in  Sum- 
merside  where  there  were  opportunities  for  larger 
business. 

According  to  the  indenture  signed  by  William  Tup¬ 
lin  and  Malcolm  McLean,  the  former  was  to  teach 
Archibald  the  trade  of  carriage  making,  to  furnish 
board  and  washing  and  to  pay  for  the  first  year,  five 
pounds ;  the  second  year,  six  pounds ;  the  third  year, 
seven  pounds ;  the  fourth  year,  eight  pounds ;  and  the 
fifth  year,  nine  pounds.  As  the  Island  pound  was 
worth  only  three  dollars,  it  can  be  seen  readily  that 
the  graduated  carriage  maker  could  scarcely  have  ac¬ 
cumulated  enough  capital  out  of  his  five  years ’  earn¬ 
ings  to  set  up  in  business  for  himself,  even  if  all  his 
clothing  had  been  homespun  from  the  farm. 

The  conditions  of  work  were  as  severe  as  the  terms 
of  the  contract.  The  hours  were  from  six  to  twelve, 
one  to  five,  and  six  to  eight  in  the  evening,  making 
twelve  hours  a  day.  In  addition,  the  newest  appren¬ 
tice  had  to  do  the  chores  about  both  the  shop  and  the 
home,  taking  care  of  the  horses  and  cows  and  starting 
the  fires,  before  time  for  the  day’s  work  to  begin.  He 
had  his  consolation,  however,  in  the  fact  that  he  was 
not  apt  to  be  detailed  to  help  repair  the  mail  coach 
which  stopped  at  Summerside  overnight  and,  if  out 
of  order  in  any  way,  had  to  be  made  roadworthy  be¬ 
fore  six  o’clock  the  next  morning,  even  if,  as  some¬ 
times  happened,  this  compelled  the  apprentices  to  work 


HIS  PASSION  FOP  PERFECTION 


47 


all  night.  Those  who  worked  through  the  night  took 
their  places  as  usual  in  the  day’s  operations,  mak¬ 
ing  thirty-six  hours  of  practically  continuous  labor. 

The  home  which  Mr.  Tuplin  and  his  apprentices 
built  in  Summerside  is  still  one  of  the  handsome 
houses  of  the  town.  He  sold  it  to  J ohn  Lefurgey  who 
gave  it  to  his  son.  It  occupies  two-thirds  of  a  tow 
block,  with  ample  stables  in  the  rear.  It  is  a  square, 
hipped-roof,  frame  house  with  a  cupola  at  the  apex  of 
the  roof.  A  lower  wing  projecting  to  the  north  held 
the  kitchen  and  the  dining  room  for  the  men  on  the 
first  floor,  and  on  the  second  floor  a  barracks-like 
room  divided  down  the  center  by  a  board  partition,  in 
which  the  fifteen  boys  slept.  The  shop  was  a  two- 
story  building  at  the  water’s  edge.  It  has  been  moved 
diagonally  across  the  street  and  turned  round  to  face 
the  harbor  with  a  new  front.  A  lawyer’s  desk  oc¬ 
cupies  the  place  at  the  window  where  Archie  McLean ’s 
bench  stood  fifty-three  years  ago. 

It  was  both  a  simple  life  and  a  strenuous  life  that 
these  apprentices  lived,  but  it  was  not  sufficiently  dif¬ 
ferent  from  that  of  the  farms  from  which  they  came 
to  arouse  any  complaints,  except  that  their  food  was 
given  to  them  in  limited  rations.  Not  only  did  the 
mistress  fix  the  maximum  amount  of  bread  that  each 
should  have,  but  she  buttered  it  herself  to  guard 
against  wastefulness.  It  must  be  said  also,  that  the 
long  life,  vigorous  health  and  useful  careers  of  the 
boys  who  began  their  lives  in  such  a  regime  seem  to 
justify  if  not  to  commend  the  process. 

In  the  summer  of  1921 1  found  a  gig  at  Summerside 
that  was  built  in  the  Tuplin  shops  forty-three  years 
before  and  had  never  received  any  repairs  except  new 
tires.  It  belonged  originally  to  a  buyer  of  hides  who 
drove  it  all  over  that  section  of  the  Island  in  all  sorts 
of  weather.  It  is  now  owned  by  Daniel  McNeill,  who 


48 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


succeeded  to  Archie  McLean’s  bench  at  Tuplin ’s.  Its 
wheels  are  as  true  and  linn  and  every  joint  is  as  close 
as  the  day  it  came  out  of  the  shop. 

After  completing  his  time  with  William  Tuplin, 
Archibald  followed  the  example  of  Mr.  Tuplin  in  going 
to  Boston  to  work  as  a  journeyman.  But  another 
purpose  was  forming  in  his  mind,  possibly  had  formed 
earlier,  and  was  only  waiting  until  he  became  twenty- 
one  to  find  expression.  After  a  year  in  or  near  Boston 
he  returned  to  Summerside  and  built  just  one  vehicle, 
a  light  spring-wagon,  probably  for  the  minister  of  the 
old  Clifton  Presbyterian  Church,  and  then  closed  for¬ 
ever  his  career  as  a  carriage  maker  and  went  to  Beth¬ 
any  College  to  study  for  the  ministry. 

As  well  as  his  most  intimate  associates  can  recall, 
Mr.  McLean  never  referred  in  after  life  to  his  trade 
and  never  used  in  his  public  addresses  an  illustration 
drawn  from  his  experiences  while  learning  the  trade. 
But  the  influence  of  that  work  and  of  his  earlier  years 
on  the  farm  was  manifest  in  his  stalwart  physical 
strength,  and  the  lessons  of  the  shop  supplemented 
those  of  the  schoolroom  in  establishing  a  passion  for 
perfection  in  everything  he  did.  In  one  of  his  ad¬ 
dresses  he  said,  “When  I  was  at  school  I  always 
wanted  to  stand  at  the  head  rather  than  at  the  foot  of 
the  class.  I  have  the  same  ambition  for  our  peo¬ 
ple  (the  Disciples  of  Christ).  I  want  them  to  excel  in 
every  good  work.” 


CHAPTER  IV 


FINDING  HIS  SOUL 

BEGINNINGS  OF  THE  RESTORATION  MOVEMENT  IN  PRINCE  EDWARD  ISLAND 

- THE  CHURCH  OF  DISCIPLES  AT  SUMMERSIDE — DONALD  CRAWFORD'S  REVIVAL 

IN  1869 - ARCHIBALD  MC  LEAN'S  ACCEPTANCE  OF  THE  NEW  TEACHING - 

PRESENCE  OF  HIS  BROTHER  JOHN  AT  BAPTISM — ANOTHER  EXAMPLE  OF  HIS 
RETICENCE — WINNING  HIS  FATHER — THE  CALL  TO  PREACH. 

A  RCHIBALD  McLEAN  learned  something  more 
than  carriage  building  at  Summerside. 

As  early  as  1811  Alexander  Crawford,  a  Scotch  Bap¬ 
tist  minister,  had  come  to  the  Island  from  Edinburgh. 
He  was  a  friend  of  the  Haldanes  and  had  been  ed¬ 
ucated  in  their  school.  We  wonder  whether  he  and 
Alexander  Campbell  met  at  that  time,  for  Mr.  Camp¬ 
bell  was  in  Glasgow  in  1808  and  1809  and  was  pro¬ 
foundly  influenced  by  the  Haldanes.  In  the  Island  Mr. 
Crawford  found  many  ready  to  accept  his  independent 
way  of  preaching  the  Scriptures,  and  he  organized 
several  churches,  some  of  which  became  regular  Bap¬ 
tist  congregations  about  the  time  of  his  death. 

In  this  period  another  leader  of  the  same  character 
arose  in  the  person  of  John  Knox,  an  Anglican  min¬ 
ister  of  fine  talent,  attractive  personality  and  good 
education.  He  also  had  come  from  Edinburgh,  Scot¬ 
land.  While  he  was  rector  of  a  church  in  Lot  48  his 
special  attention  was  called  to  baptism,  and  his  search¬ 
ing  of  the  Scriptures  led  him  to  be  immersed  by  a 
Baptist  minister.  Then  his  reading  of  the  writings 
of  Alexander  Campbell  brought  him  into  complete 
fellowship  with  the  movement  which  Mr.  Campbell  was 
inaugurating. 


49 


50 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 

A  little  later  Donald  Crawford,  a  lad  of  seven,  a 
nephew  of  Alexander  Crawford,  came  with  his  parents 
from  the  Isle  of  Arran,  Scotland.  When  he  grew  up 
he  entered  for  a  while  into  conditional  fellowship  with 
the  Baptists,  in  very  much  the  same  way  as  did  Alex¬ 
ander  Campbell.  But  when  certain  Baptist  ministers 
insisted  on  enforcing  the  Articles  of  Faith  of  the  Nova 
Scotia  Baptists,  he  severed  his  connection  with  them 
and  made  common  cause  with  the  Campbells  and  their 
associates.  They  refused  to  sign  a  creed,  not  because 
of  disagreement  with  its  tenets,  but  because  they  con¬ 
sidered  any  other  standard  than  the  Bible  fruitful  of 
division  and  strife  and  subversive  of  the  liberty  guar¬ 
anteed  to  every  member  of  the  church  of  Christ.  For 
years  he  preached  in  Nova  Scotia  and  organized  sev¬ 
eral  churches.  Then  he  made  his  home  at  New 
Glasgow,  Prince  Edward  Island,  where  he  continued 
for  fifty-five  years,  from  1855  to  1910.  In  1858  he 
organized  a  church  in  a  hall  at  Summerside,  and  for 
twenty  years  gave  his  time  to  this  congregation  in 
connection  with  that  of  New  Glasgow.  All  the  while, 
however,  he  extended  his  evangelistic  labors  over  the 
greater  part  of  the  Island  and  made  occasional  tours 
through  Nova  Scotia  and  New  Brunswick. 

Soon  after  William  Tuplin  established  his  carriage 
factory  in  Summerside,  some  of  the  young  men  became 
interested  in  a  protracted  meeting  which  Donald  Craw¬ 
ford  was  conducting.  Among  those  who  attended  was 
Archibald  McLean,  who  was  doubly  impressed  by  the 
sincere  and  devout  personality  of  the  preacher  and 
his  abundant  and  discriminating  use  of  the  Scriptures. 
His  magnifying  of  the  Word  of  God  above  all  human 
authority  accorded  well  with  both  the  teaching  and  the 
example  of  Malcolm  McLean  in  the  old  home  on  the 
farm.  There  we  have  seen  that  the  Bible  was  the  sub¬ 
ject  of  daily  study  and  that  every  Sunday  the  lessons 


DONALD  CRAWFORD 


51 


learned  through  the  week  were  carefully  reviewed.  In 
the  Bible  reading  and  teaching  of  Malcolm  McLean 
there  was  the  same  constant  sense  of  reality  that  there 
was  in  his  prayers.  He  received  the  Bible  as  the  ac¬ 
tual  Word  of  God,  and  eagerly  sought  and  faithfully 
followed  its  teaching  on  every  phase  of  religion.  This 
was  the  precise  method  of  Donald  Crawford ’s  teach¬ 
ing.  At  the  same  time  he  called  attention  to  certain 
principles  of  Bible  interpretation  that  had  been  over¬ 
looked  by  Malcolm  McLean,  and  to  certain  passages 
that  apparently  had  not  been  given  due  consideration. 

It  is  said  that  at  first,  from  a  Scotchman’s  love  both 
of  argument  and  of  fair  play,  Archibald  took  the  side 
of  the  preacher  in  conversation  with  liis  comrades, 
and  that  he  handled  the  discussion  so  well  that  he 
convinced  himself  that  Donald  Crawford  was  right. 
There  came  to  him  a  clarifying  distinction  between  the 
Mosaic  and  Christian  dispensations  and  a  challeng¬ 
ing  call  for  the  union  of  all  Christians  under  Christ 
himself  as  the  only  head  of  the  church,  with  the  New 
Testament  itself  as  the  only  rule  of  faith  and  prac¬ 
tice.  He  could  not  but  accept  the  motto,  “  Where  the 
Scriptures  speak  we  speak  and  where  the  Scriptures 
are  silent  we  are  silent,”  though  it  led  to  the  immer¬ 
sion  of  believers  as  the  only  baptism  found  in  the  New 
Testament  and  to  the  rejection  of  time-honored  church 
associations  and  authorities.  Here  he  fought  one  of 
the  great  decisive  battles  of  his  life.  To  him  it  was 
not  a  question  between  this  church  and  that,  but  be¬ 
tween  a  united  church  and  a  divided  church.  While 
the  ‘ ‘  Ref ormers  ’  ’  with  whom  he  united  had  their  local 
churches,  like  the  denominations  out  of  which  they  had 
come,  they  thought  of  their  body  as  a  whole,  “not  as 
a  church,  nor  as  the  church,  but  as  a  movement  within 
the  church  for  the  union  of  all  Christians.”  It  was 
not  a  matter  of  following  this  leader  or  that,  but  of 


52 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 

4  ‘  seeing  no  man  save  J esns  only.  ’  ’  It  was  hard  to  leave 
the  church  of  his  father,  but  there  was  Jesus  saying, 
“Before  Abraham  was,  I  am.”  There  were  honored 
ministers  in  the  Presbyterian  fellowship,  but  it  was 
confessedly  only  a  fragment  of  the  church  of  Christ 
and  how  could  he  refuse  to  help  answer  the  supreme 
prayer  of  the  church’s  head,  “That  they  may  all  be 
one;  even  as  thou,  Father,  art  in  me,  and  I  in  thee, 
that  they  also  may  be  in  us,  that  the  world  may  be¬ 
lieve  that  thou  didst  send  me”?  With  the  issue  thus 
defined  and  squarely  faced  there  could  be  but  one  de¬ 
cision. 

Having  decided  to  take  his  stand  with  Donald  Craw¬ 
ford  and  the  Reformers  he  wrote  to  his  brother  John 
at  Charlottetown  and  asked  him  to  spend  a  certain 
Sunday  in  June,  1867,  with  him.  His  affection  for  his 
family  was  too  strong  to  permit  him  to  take  such  a 
radical  step  with  none  of  them  present.  John  gladly 
accepted  the  invitation.  The  two  brothers  went  to¬ 
gether  to  hear  Donald  Crawford  preach  and  then  to 
the  harbor  to  witness  a  number  of  baptisms.  After 
several  others  had  been  immersed,  Archie  left  his 
brother’s  side  and  stepped  into  the  water  with  the 
minister.  No  intimation  whatever  had  been  given 
John  that  he  had  such  an  intention,  and  the  elder 
brother’s  consternation  and  indignation  were  so  great 
that  only  with  difficulty  could  he  restrain  himself  from 
trying  forcibly  to  prevent  the  act. 

Those  who  have  known  Archibald  McLean  most  in¬ 
timately  in  later  years  will  not  be  surprised  on  reading 
of  this  early  example  of  his  reticence.  In  the  winter 
of  1907  David  Riocli,  an  India  missionary  of  the  Dis¬ 
ciples  of  Christ,  and  the  author  went  with  him  on  his 
annual  series  of  missionary  rallies.  Each  of  us  had 
known  him  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years.  As  we  came 
into  Washington,  D.  C.,  early  one  morning,  he  amazed 
us  with  the  simple  statement,  “I  have  a  sister  living 


ACCEPTANCE  OF  THE  NEW  TEACHING  53 

liere.  We  will  take  breakfast  with  her.  ’  ’  Neither  had 
suspected  that  he  had  a  relative  anywhere  in  the  world. 
When  we  mildly  voiced  our  surprise  and  he  found  we 
were  really  interested  in  the  subject,  he  told  us  not 
only  of  his  many  brothers  and  sisters,  but  of  his  re¬ 
vered  father  who  was  then  living.  The  same  personal 
modesty  which  prevented  his  talking  about  himself 
eliminated  his  family  from  his  conversation  with  those 
who  did  not  know  them,  but  they  were  the  object  of 
his  daily  thought  and  his  abiding  affection.  In  spite 
of  his  abundant  labors  and  vexing  cares  he  showed 
continual  interest  not  only  in  his  brothers  and  sisters 
but  in  every  niece  and  nephew.  His  feeling  seems  to 
have  been,  “ These  are  matters  of  course;  why  talk 
about  them?”  As  to  his  baptism,  the  decision  to  go 
through  with  it  was  irrevocable.  If  John  or  any  other 
member  of  the  family  knew  of  it  in  advance,  the  step 
would  be  made  more  difficult,  so  he  let  the  act  speak  for 
itself.  He  had  found  his  soul.  Like  Saul  of  Tarsus  he 
“conferred  not  with  flesh  and  blood.’ ’ 

At  the  first  opportunity  after  his  baptism  he  se¬ 
cured  his  father’s  consent  that  he  should  bring  Don¬ 
ald  Crawford  home  with  him,  and  had  the  great  joy 
of  seeing  the  two  men  instantly  become  friends.  Of 
course  it  took  a  good  while  for  the  elder  of  the  Clifton 
kirk  so  to  rearrange  his  understanding  of  the  Scrip¬ 
tures  as  to  leave  the  old  fellowship  and  join  his  son  in 
his  great  adventure,  but  the  unquestioning  obedience 
which  the  clansman  of  old  gave  to  his  chieftain,  the 
McLean  gave  with  double  devotion  to  Christ,  and 
whatever  appeared  to  be  the  plain  teaching  of  the  New 
Testament,  or  a  fair  inference  from  the  example  of  the 
early  church,  left  no  room  for  question  or  hesitation 
in  the  loyal  soul  of  the  Highlander.  When  the  time  of 
decision  finally  came  it  meant,  as  he  knew  in  advance 
it  would  mean,  not  only  that  he  forfeited  his  place  of 
leadership  in  the  old  church,  but  also,  for  a  time  at 


54 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


least  and  in  some  instances  for  life,  the  fellowship  of 
the  brethren  with  whom  he  had  lived  in  the  most  beau¬ 
tiful  Christian  comradeship.  But  no  human  influence 
could  be  allowed  to  interfere  with  a  divine  duty.  On 
November  6, 1870,  two  months  after  Archibald  entered 
Bethany  College  to  prepare  for  the  ministry,  Malcolm 
McLean  was  baptized  by  Donald  Crawford  in  the  har¬ 
bor  at  Summerside,  and  enrolled  as  a  member  of  the 
Summerside  Christian  Church.  There  being  no 
church  near  by  of  the  Restoration  movement,  as  the 
new  fellowship  was  called  by  its  adherents,  after  a 
while  Malcolm  McLean  resumed  his  habit  of  attending 
the  weekly  prayer  meeting  at  the  Presbyterian 
Church.  One  evening  the  leader  of  the  meeting  called 
on  him  to  pray.  Instantly,  another  elder  arose  and 
shouted,  ‘  ‘  Mr.  McLean  shall  not  pray  in  this  church. ’  ’ 
Gradually  there  came  a  better  feeling.  When  Mal¬ 
colm  McLean  died  in  1910,  the  Presbyterian  minister 
preached  his  funeral  in  the  Presbyterian  Church,  but 
even  then  thought  best  to  make  no  mention  of  his  hav¬ 
ing  left  it  forty  years  before  and  having  continued 
active  in  another  fellowship  all  that  time. 

Donald  Crawford  was  a  master-builder  of  men.  A 
number  of  ministers  have  been  proud  to  claim  him  as 
their  father  in  the  gospel.  Recognizing  at  once  the 
superior  ability  of  Archibald  McLean,  he  began  im¬ 
mediately  after  having  baptized  him  to  press  him  into 
service  in  the  church,  seizing  every  opportunity  to 
have  him  take  part.  Members  of  the  church  at  that 
time  who  are  still  living  remember  distinctly  the  hand¬ 
some  face,  the  shrill  voice  and  the  apt  utterances  of 
Archie  McLean. 

The  manuscripts  of  sermons  preached  by  Mr. 
McLean  while  he  was  a  student  at  Bethany  College 
abound  in  Scripture  quotations  uniformly  used  with 
marvelous  precision.  In  this  respect  they  are  just 
like  the  addresses  of  his  later  life.  His  familiarity  with 


—W.  R.  Warren,  1921 

PRINCE  EDWARD  ISLAND 

McLean  Homestead  Southwest  River 

Carriage  Shop  at  Margate 

Present  Graham’s  Road  Schoolhouse  Harbor  of  Summerside 


- 


THE  CALL  TO  PREACH 


55 


the  Word  of  God  and  his  reverence  for  it  dated  back 
to  his  childhood.  They  were  acquired  from  his  father 
and  confirmed  by  Donald  Crawford. 

Indeed,  it  would  not  have  been  possible  for  Mr. 
Crawford  to  influence  him  so  profoundly  if  he  had  not 
had  the  Word  of  God  already  hidden  in  his  heart.  He 
had  memorized  large  portions  of  the  Old  Testament 
and  still  larger  sections  of  the  New  Testament.  He 
had  the  Word  in  his  mind  and  Mr.  Crawford  simply 
gave  him  a  new  key  to  its  understanding  and  especially 
to  the  coordination  of  the  different  parts  of  the  book. 
He  led  him  to  see  that  it  was  not  one  book  but  a  li¬ 
brary  of  sixty-six  books,  and  to  know  the  time  and 
place  and  significance  of  each  book  as  related  to  the 
rest.  It  was  as  if  the  words  of  the  Bible  had  been 
held  in  solution  in  his  mind  until  touched  by  Mr.  Craw¬ 
ford,  when  they  at  once  crystallized  in  the  simple, 
natural  and  logical  order  which  they  carried  with 
slight  modification  through  the  rest  of  his  life. 

Making  Christ  supreme  in  his  life  in  such  an  abso¬ 
lute  and  decisive  way  inevitably  led  to  other  soul  con¬ 
flicts  and  decisions.  “The  thoughts  of  youth  are  long, 
long  thoughts.”  Sometimes  he  had  day  dreams  of 
success  in  business  with  a  happy  home  and  all  the  sat¬ 
isfactions  of  temporal  prosperity.  More  and  more 
clearly  that  dream  had  to  give  way  to  the  insistent 
call  to  preach  the  gospel.  How  else  could  he  “seek 
first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness”! 
How  else  could  he  measurably  obey  the  great  com¬ 
mission,  “Go  ye  therefore  and  make  disciples  of  all 
the  nations”!  “How  can  they  hear  without  a 
preacher!”  Then,  if  the  divided  and  discordant  sects 
of  Christians  were  ever  to  learn  the  way  to  reunion, 
there  would  have  to  be  many  and  earnest  advocates  of 
that  way.  At  last  there  came  the  overwhelming  con¬ 
viction,  “Woe  is  me  if  I  preach  not  the  gospel!” 


CHAPTER  V 
BETHANY  COLLEGE 

BETHANY  AN  IDEALIZED  PLACE - MC  LEAN'S  JOURNEY — THE  COLLEGE 

BUILDING - THE  MEN  WHO  MADE  MC  LEAN'S  BETHANY - COLLEGE  COURSE - 

PROFESSOR  DOLBEAR'S  INVENTIONS — FELLOW  STUDENTS - COLLEGE  LIFE — 

BETHANY'S  INFLUENCE — MC  LEAN'S  DEVOTION  TO  BETHANY. 

«  * 

HPO  Archibald  McLean  in  1870,  Bethany,  West  Vir- 
A  ginia,  was  a  far-away  idealized  spot.  It  was  the 
home  of  Alexander  Campbell,  the  leader  of  the  Res¬ 
toration  movement,  who  had  died  only  four  years 
before.  It  was  the  center  from  which  had  gone  forth 
Mr.  Campbell’s  books  and  the  forty-one  volumes  of  his 
widely  read  and  highly  prized  magazine,  the  Millennial 
Harbinger ,  the  last  volume  that  very  year.  It  was  the 
home  of  Dr.  Richardson,  Mr.  Campbell’s  coadjutor, 
friend  and  biographer.  It  was  the  site  of  Bethany 
College,  founded  by  the  mighty  prophet  of  the  new 
era,  and  then  presided  over  by  William  K.  Pendleton, 
twice  Mr.  Campbell’s  son-in-law  and  his  most  intimate 
associate  on  the  Millennial  Harbinger ,  in  the  college, 
and  in  all  the  great  undertakings  of  his  career.  It 
was  a  place  to  dream  about,  like  Kashmir  or  the 
Alhambra,  and  not  a  mere  earthly  spot  to  which  one 
would  think  of  buying  a  railroad  ticket. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  when  the  young  man  reached 
New  York,  he  discovered  that  Bethany  was  not  on  the 
map,  and  he  had  considerable  difficulty  in  discovering 
how  it  could  be  reached. 

The  world  of  today  is  too  small  for  such  a  great 
journey  as  Archibald  McLean  took  from  New  London 

56 


AN  IDEALIZED  PLACE 


or 


to  Bethany.  It  was  an  adventure  not  merely  for  him¬ 
self  but  for  his  entire  family  and  for  all  his  friends. 
It  had  taken  much  planning  and  calculating  and  then 
a  far  leap  of  faith  to  compass  the  financial  require¬ 
ments  of  four  years  at  college.  The  large  family  of 
small  children  at  home  made  it  impossible  for  the 
father  to  promise  much  help.  With  generous  care  and 
minute  pains  the  mother  prepared  his  clothing.  The 
older  sisters  undertook  to  assist  financially.  John 
thought  that  he  could  do  something  toward  helping  to 
realize  the  dream.  But  beyond  all  they  could  forecast 
there  had  to  be  much  reliance  upon  the  uncharted 
ways  of  Providence.  The  father’s  parting  blessing, 
“The  God  of  Jacob  be  with  you!”  was  not  a  formal 
phrase  but  a  real  dependence. 

They  arose  at  half  past  three  o’clock  to  get  a  good 
start  for  the  sixteen-mile  drive  to  Summerside,  which 
was  more  than  the  point  of  departure  from  the  Island. 
It  had  been  Archie ’s  home  for  three  years  and  was  the 
place  where  the  course  of  his  life  had  been  strangely 
altered.  It  was  what  Bethel  was  to  Jacob;  what 
Damascus  was  to  Saul  of  Tarsus;  what  Wittenberg 
was  to  Martin  Luther,  and  what  Lochin-Daal  Bay  was 
to  Alexander  Campbell. 

From  Summerside  the  boat  ran  across  Northumber¬ 
land  Strait  to  Pointe  du  Chene  and  thence  through  the 
strait  to  Charlottetown  and  across  again  to  Pictou, 
Nova  Scotia.  From  Pictou  there  was  another  boat  to 
Boston  and  thence  still  another  to  New  York  City. 
There  the  railroad  journey  began.  As  the  train  sped 
on  hour  after  hour,  traversing  the  fertile  fields  of  New 
Jersey  and  eastern  Pennsylvania,  climbing  the  Alle¬ 
gheny  Mountains,  doubling  back  upon  itself  in  the 
great  horseshoe  curve  and  rushing  down  the  western 
slope,  it  must  have  seemed  that  he  was  indeed  travers- 


58 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


ing  a  continent  and  leaving  behind  forever  the  loved 
scenes  of  his  childhood. 

From  Pittsburgh  he  made  another  railroad  journey 
of  several  hours  down  the  right  bank  of  the  Ohio 
River  to  La  Grange  (now  Brilliant).  (The  more  di¬ 
rect  line  from  Pittsburgh  to  Wellsburg  and  Wheeling 
was  built  later.)  There  he  crossed  the  river  in  an 
awkward  but  efficient  little  ferry  boat  to  Wellsburg. 
Here  the  real  land  of  enchantment  began.  The  con¬ 
veyance  to  Bethany  was  an  ordinary  stagecoach  but 
the  road  was  a  finely  graded  macadamized  turnpike 
following  the  general  course  of  a  little  river  that  emp¬ 
tied  its  crystal  waters  into  the  great  Ohio  at  Wells¬ 
burg.  A  short  distance  from  the  town  the  traveler 
crossed  the  stream  by  a  great  wooden  covered-bridge 
that  resounded  musically  to  the  footsteps  of  the 
horses.  After  another  mile,  following  more  or  less 
closely  the  bank  of  the  Buffalo,  he  passed  through  an¬ 
other  covered-bridge,  and  so  four  times  in  the  seven 
miles  to  Bethany.  Just  before  he  reached  one  of  these 
bridges  he  saw  a  picturesque  water  mill,  the  race 
which  supplied  it  threading  a  tunnel  through  a  hill. 
While  the  newcomer  was  wondering  at  the  daring  of 
this  arrangement,  the  road  itself  turned  suddenly  to  the 
right  and  entered  the  hill.  Here  the  driver  stopped  a 
moment  and  shouted,  to  make  sure  that  no  one  was 
entering  the  tunnel  from  the  opposite  end,  for  it  was 
too  narrow  to  permit  vehicles  to  pass.  Coming  out  on 
the  sunny  side  of  the  narrow  ridge  which  the  tunnel 
pierced,  Archibald  beheld  a  scene  of  bewitching  beau¬ 
ty  :  a  stretch  of  placid  water  ending  in  the  waterfall  of 
the  milldam;  great  trees  leaning  over  the  stream  and 
gazing  forever  at  their  own  loveliness  in  its  mirror- 
like  surface;  a  precipitous  hillside  wooded  to  its  crest; 
a  fertile  farmstead  stretching  along  the  stream  and 


A  MEMORABLE  JOURNEY  59 

gradually  ascending  until  it  reached  a  height  corre¬ 
sponding  to  the  steep  hill  across  the  creek. 

A  mile  further  on  Archibald  found  a  second  tunnel. 
This  opened  out  on  another  vista  of  picturesque  fer¬ 
tility.  Another  mile,  and  he  climbed  a  long  hill  to  the 
Second  Narrows,  where  the  road  was  cut  into  the  face 
of  the  steep  hillside,  and  the  traveler  looked  almost 
straight  down  two  hundred  feet  on  the  right  into  the 
clear  waters  of  the  Buffalo,  and  then  lifted  his  eyes  to 
behold  the  panorama  of  a  highly  cultivated  farm  in  the 
semi-circular  bend  of  the  stream,  flanked  and  backed 
by  a  mass  of  hills  fascinating  in  their  beauty  and  be¬ 
wildering  in  their  variety  of  form  and  height  and  dis¬ 
tance.  Another  mile,  and  he  passed  Ghost  Hollow. 
The  First  Narrows  repeated  the  Second  with  varia¬ 
tions,  until  he  turned  the  point  of  the  hill  and  sud¬ 
denly  on  the  left  there  leaped  into  view  the  college 
tower  and  the  long  stretch  of  the  building  which  it 
crowns. 

Impressive  as  was  the  first  sight  of  the  building,  he 
did  not  realize  its  full  beauty  until  he  approached  its 
front  from  the  village.  Then  he  beheld  a  stately 
Gothic  structure,  simple  in  its  lines  and  symmetrical 
in  its  proportions;  a  masterpiece  of  the  architects 
Walter  and  Wilson,  of  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  an  inspi¬ 
ration  of  the  manifold  genius  of  President  Pendleton. 

The  erection  of  the  building  was  just  nearing  com¬ 
pletion,  progress  having  been  delayed  by  the  Civil 
War,  though  the  regular  work  of  the  college  never 
ceased.  The  north  wing  had  been  built  in  1858,  fol¬ 
lowing  the  destruction  of  the  old  building  by  fire, 
December  10,  1857.  The  south  wing,  known  as  Com¬ 
mencement  Hall,  was  used  for  the  first  time  for  the 
commencement  exercises  of  1871.  The  last  active 
work  of  Mr.  Campbell  had  been  to  tour  the  country 
in  company  with  Mr.  Pendleton  and  raise  funds  for 


60 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


the  erection  of  this  building.  He  bore  the  privations 
of  these  journeys  cheerfully  in  spite  of  his  advanced 
years,  because  of  his  confidence  in  the  vast  usefulness 
of  the  institution  to  the  generations  that  would  fol¬ 
low.  In  the  mind  of  Mr.  Pendleton  and  of  the  friends 
who  contributed  generously  to  the  enterprise,  the 
building  was  to  be  a  monument  to  Mr.  Campbell,  the 
founder  of  the  college  and  the  recognized  leader  of 
the  religious  movement  with  which  it  was  identified. 
When  completed  competent  authorities  declared  it  to 
be  the  handsomest  college  building  in  the  United 
States. 

It  would  not  have  been  possible  to  discover  a  finer 
type  of  the  Old  Virginia  gentleman  than  President 
Pendleton.  His  home  was  the  center  of  abundant  and 
gracious  hospitality.  His  time  and  strength  seemed  to 
be  unreservedly  at  the  disposal  of  his  friends  and  stu¬ 
dents.  After  all  others  had  retired  for  the  night  he 
entered  his  study  and  took  up  the  labors  which  en¬ 
titled  him  to  be  ranked  as  a  scholar  as  well  as  an  elo¬ 
quent  preacher,  an  able  writer  and  an  inspiring  teacher. 
Nowhere  was  Alexander  Campbell’s  greatness  more 
manifest  than  in  the  large  caliber  and  superb  charac¬ 
ter  of  the  men  whom  he  drew  into  association  with 
himself  in  the  leadership  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ.  In 
the  front  rank  of  that  illustrious  company  were  W.  K. 
Pendleton  and  Dr.  Robert  Richardson,  each  still  an 
abiding  presence  and  power  at  Bethany  in  Archibald 
McLean’s  student  days. 

Dr.  Richardson’s  home  was  a  modest  farmhouse 
across  the  Buffalo.  It  stood  on  the  brow  of  a  hill  which 
sloped  toward  Bethany  but  left  the  home  hidden  from 
the  college  view  by  the  woods  which  clothed  the  hill¬ 
side  up  to  the  house.  This  home  he  called  Bethphage 
because  it  was  “nigh  unto  Bethany.”  Its  walls  were 
lined  with  books  and  even  the  ceiling  was  loaded  with 


BETHANY  TEACHERS 


61 


pamphlets  and  periodicals  which  were  stuffed  in  be¬ 
tween  the  exposed  joists  wherever  the  cross  braces 
would  hold  them.  Here  were  unbound  copies  of  Addi¬ 
son’s  Spectator  and  Samuel  Johnson’s  Rambler  and 
other  rich  treasures  of  English  literature. 

Dr.  Richardson’s  chief  work  was  the  Memoirs  of 
Alexander  Campbell  in  two  volumes,  the  continuing 
demand  for  which  will  not  allow  it  to  pass  out  of  print. 
He  wrote  also  an  able  volume  on  The  Work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit ,  and  was  managing  editor  of  the  Millen¬ 
nial  Harbinger  for  many  years.  All  the  while  he  was 
one  of  the  most  trusted  and  helpful  advisers  of  Mr. 
Campbell  in  all  that  pertained  to  the  advancement  of 
the  Restoration  movement  and  the  building  up  of 
Bethany  College,  from  the  faculty  of  which  he  had  but 
lately  retired.  The  student  from  Prince  Edward  Is¬ 
land  was  drawn  to  Bethpage  not  only  by  the  erudition 
and  friendliness  of  Dr.  Richardson  but  also  by  the 
fact  that  his  children  were  young  people  of  about  Mr. 
McLean’s  age.  Dr.  Richardson  was  a  wit  and  a 
humorist  as  well  as  a  scholar.  The  Canadian  High¬ 
lander  was  doubly  attracted  on  this  account  and  gave 
prompt  and  full  appreciation  to  every  quip  and  story 
of  the  older  man. 

Younger  than  President  Pendleton  and  Dr.  Rich¬ 
ardson  but  worthy  to  rank  with  them  both  in  intel¬ 
lectual  reach  and  spiritual  attainments  was  Charles 
Louis  Loos,  professor  of  Latin  and  Greek  in  the  col¬ 
lege  and  especially  interested  in  the  training  of  young 
men  for  the  ministry.  Professor  Loos  was  a  native 
of  Alsace  and  throughout  his  life  cherished  a  rare  de¬ 
votion  to  the  land  of  his  birth.  This  made  the  early 
seventies  a  period  of  suffering  for  him  in  seeing 
Alsace-Lorraine  wrested  from  France  by  Germany. 
In  Professor  Loos’s  home  also  there  were  young  peo¬ 
ple,  and  there  the  entire  family  received  Archibald 


62 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


McLean  with  quick  appreciation  and  heajty  comrade¬ 
ship.  Throughout  his  life,  whether  in  Bethany  or  in 
Lexington,  Kentucky,  where  Mr.  Loos  later  became 
president  of  Kentucky  University  (now  Transylvania 
College)  they  always  made  him  not  merely  welcome 
but  one  of  the  household. 

Professor  Loos  was  a  thorough  instructor  in  the 
classics  in  which  he  was  assisted  by  a  younger  man, 
first  E.  D.  Barclay  and  then  F.  D.  Power,  who  was 
called  adjunct  professor.  But  his  chief  interest  was 
in  the  Greek  New  Testament  which  he  taught  his  stu¬ 
dents  with  the  combined  enthusiasm  of  scholar  and 
prophet.  To  him  it  was  the  living  Word  of  the  living 
God,  and  his  ardent  devotion  to  its  study  and  to  its 
faithful  following  he  imparted  in  a  wonderful  degree 
to  his  students.  In  his  class  room  began  the  lifelong 
rule  of  Archibald  McLean  to  read  a  chapter  in  the 
Greek  New  Testament  every  day,  no  matter  where  he 
might  be  in  his  journeyings  or  what  might  be  the  ad¬ 
ministrative  cares  of  his  office. 

How  profound  was  the  influence  of  Professor  Loos 
is  illustrated  again  by  the  fact  that  at  his  suggestion 
Dr.  Jabez  Hall,  a  student  of  the  decade  preceding  Mr. 
McLean’s,  has  always  devoted  one  day  each  week  to 
some  avocation.  For  a  period  it  was  astronomy, 
which  he  cultivated  with  such  diligence  that  he  won 
the  recognition  of  Simon  Newcomb,  and  was  embar¬ 
rassed  by  having  presented  to  him,  by  a  business  man 
in  Cleveland,  Ohio,  where  he  was  then  pastor  of  the 
Euclid  Avenue  Christian  Church,  one  of  the  splendid 
telescopes  which  the  government  had  purchased  for 
observing  the  transit  of  Venus,  and  which  is  still  in 
use  in  Western  Reserve  University.  At  another  time 
he  studied  submarine  life  to  such  good  purpose  that 
he  discovered  a  new  species  which  bears  his  name. 

Shortly  before  Mr.  McLean  entered  Bethany  College 


FACULTY  OF  BETHANY  COLLEGE  IN  1874 

1.  A.  E.  Dolbear,  2.  Charles  Louis  Loos,  3.  President  W.  K.  Pendleton, 
4.  Julian  B.  Crenshaw,  5.  E,  D.  Barclay,  6.  Robert  Richardson,  Retired. 


COURSE  OF  STUDY 


63 


the  trustees  had  provided  for  a  scientific  course  of 
study  leading  to  the  degree  of  B.S.  and  while  he  was 
there  a  ministerial  course  was  added,  but  he  took  the 
original  classical  course  and  received  the  degree  of 
A.B.  on  the  18th  of  June,  1874.  His  diploma  bears 
the  signatures  of  W.  K.  Pendleton,  President;  Charles 
Louis  Loos,  Professor  of  Greek  and  Latin ;  A.  E.  Dol- 
bear,  Professor  of  Natural  Science;  Julian  B.  Cren¬ 
shaw,  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Astronomy,  and 
E.  D.  Barclay,  Adjunct  Professor  of  Greek  and  Latin, 
as  the  faculty,  and  of  Robert  Graham,  R.  Richardson, 
A.  W.  Campbell,  J.  E.  Curtis,  Alexander  Campbell, 
Albert  Allen  and  R.  Moffett,  as  trustees. 

Mr.  Graham  was  a  graduate  of  Bethany  College, 
President  of  the  College  of  the  Bible  at  Lexington, 
and  one  of  the  leading  preachers  and  teachers  of  his 
day.  Dr.  Richardson  has  been  mentioned  above.  A. 
W.  Campbell  was  a  nephew  of  Alexander  Campbell, 
and  was  editor  and  publisher  of  the  Wheeling  Intelli¬ 
gencer.  J.  E.  Curtis  was  a  local  friend  of  the  college 
who  is  still  living,  and  was  present  at  the  college  com¬ 
mencement  in  1921.  Alexander  Campbell,  of  this  sig¬ 
nature,  was  a  son  of  the  founder  of  the  college  and 
made  his  home  at  Bethany.  Albert  Allen  was  an  in¬ 
fluential  representative  of  a  family  prominent  among 
the  Disciples  of  Christ  from  an  early  day.  At  this 
time  he  was  financial  secretary  of  the  college.  Robert 
Moffett  was  another  prominent  alumnus  and  minister, 
who  was  later  secretary  of  the  American  Christian 
Missionary  Society. 

As  in  other  colleges  of  that  day  the  course  of  study 
at  Bethany  was  a  fourfold  curriculum.  The  unfailing 
elements  which  ran  through  the  entire  four  years 
were  Latin,  Greek,  mathematics  and  natural  sciences. 
In  mathematics,  surveying,  mechanics  and  astronomy 
were  included.  Mental  and  moral  philosophy  and 


64 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


logic  found  a  place  in  the  senior  year.  English  and 
other  modem  languages  were  taken  for  longer  or 
shorter  periods  along  with  the  major  lines  of  study. 

On  superficial  examination  it  would  seem  that  the 
requirements  for  graduation,  except  in  mathematics, 
were  scarcely  higher  than  the  present  college  entrance 
requirements.  The  difference,  however,  was  greater 
than  appears  and  consisted  rather  in  the  character  of 
the  work  than  in  its  extent.  The  students,  of  course, 
were  more  mature  than  high  school  students  are  now. 
Their  average  age  probably  exceeded  the  average  even 
of  the  college  students  of  today.  At  any  rate,  when 
they  graduated  they  seem  to  have  been  quite  as  well 
equipped  for  the  serious  work  of  life  as  the  graduates 
of  the  present  time. 

Science  was  just  beginning  the  conflict,  which  it  has 
waged  ever  since  with  increasing  success,  to  supplant 
the  classics  in  undergraduate  study.  Its  representa¬ 
tive  in  Bethany  was  not  a  man  who  would  contend  for 
anything  except  the  truth,  but  such  a  rare  combination 
of  modesty  and  industry,  devotion  and  acumen  as  dis¬ 
tinguished  Professor  A.  E.  Dolbear  could  not  fail  to 
increase  the  popularity  of  scientific  study.  Even  then 
he  was  conducting  hopeful  experiments  looking  toward 
the  invention  of  what  we  now  call  the  telephone. 
Archibald  McLean  and  M.  M.  Cochran  helped  him  to 
stretch  the  wires  for  these  experiments  along  the  hun¬ 
dred-yard  length  of  the  college  corridor.  That  Mr. 
Dolbear  must  be  accounted  at  least  one  of  the  invent¬ 
ors  of  the  telephone  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  he 
was  paid  a  sum  which  he  named  himself,  altogether 
too  modestly,  for  his  rights  to  the  discovery.  The 
financial  phase  of  the  matter  was  quite  incidental 
with  him,  his  interest  being  purely  scientific.  In  like 
manner  he  was  the  real  discoverer  of  wireless  teleg¬ 
raphy.  His  first  application  for  a  patent  for  this  was 


PROFESSOR  DOLBEAR’S  INVENTIONS  65 


refused  on  the  ground  that  it  was  contrary  to  science. 
He  finally  secured  the  patent  in  1886,  but  the  company 
to  which  he  assigned  it  failed  to  make  anything  out  of 
it  for  the  inventor. 

The  first  two  years  Mr.  McLean  was  in  Bethany,  H. 
Wilson  Harding  was  professor  of  mathematics.  He 
left  the  college  after  six  years  of  service,  to  become 
head  of  the  electrical  engineering  department  in  Lehigh 
University.  He  was  a  brother  of  Mrs.  Rebecca  Hard¬ 
ing  Davis,  and  so  an  uncle  of  Richard  Harding  Davis. 
He  is  described  by  F.  D.  Power  as  “A  handsome  man, 
tall  and  a  trifle  deaf ;  of  high  mental  and  moral  type ; 
dignified,  courtly  and  gracious,  an  exceptionally  fine 
educator.” 

There  is  a  question  as  to  whether  one’s  teachers  or 
his  fellow  students  exercise  the  greater  influence  in 
his  education.  This  of  course  is  one  of  the  questions 
that  can  never  be  settled,  and  it  does  not  need  to  be. 
Certainly  the  men  who  were  in  Mr.  McLean’s  classes 
were  students  of  such  native  ability,  moral  character 
and  religious  purpose  as  to  assist  effectively  in  his 
growth  and  development.  Among  these  were  B.  T. 
Blanpied,  later  a  successful  teacher  in  Bethany  and  in 
eastern  colleges;  F.  D.  Power,  the  distinguished  pas¬ 
tor  of  the  Vermont  Avenue  Christian  Church,  Wash¬ 
ington,  D.C. ;  Champ  Clark,  the  celebrated  congress¬ 
man;  Neil  McLeod,  who  had  come  with  Mr.  McLean 
from  Prince  Edward  Island,  and  later  was  a  mis¬ 
sionary  to  Jamaica;  George  T.  Smith,  E.  T.  Williams 
and  G.  L.  Wharton,  who  also  became  missionaries,  Mr. 
Williams  later  coming  into  distinction  as  secretary  of 
the  United  States  legation  at  Peking,  oriental  adviser 
of  the  United  States  during  the  World  War,  and  head 
of  the  oriental  department  in  the  University  of  Cali¬ 
fornia;  M.  M.  Cochran,  whose  services  as  president  of 
the  trustees  of  the  college  and  whose  contributions  to 


66 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


its  equipment  and  endowment  have  saved  the  life  of 
the  college  and  guaranteed  its  perpetual  usefulness; 
J.  M.  Trible,  B.  C.  Hagerman  and  W.  H.  Woolery, 
professors  and  presidents  of  Bethany;  J.  R.  Lamar, 
justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court;  and 
many  others  whose  places  in  the  life  of  their  times,  as 
ministers,  lawyers,  physicians,  educators  and  business 
men,  have  been  filled  with  honor  to  themselves  and 
credit  to  their  Alma  Mater.  Some  of  these,  like  F.  D. 
Power,  graduated  at  the  end  of  Mr.  McLean’s  first 
year,  and  others,  like  Justice  Lamar,  were  in  college 
only  one  year  before  Mr.  McLean  graduated,  but  all 
bore  their  part  in  making  the  atmosphere  of  the  in¬ 
stitution. 

The  life  of  the  college  community  was  simple  and  in 
many  respects  primitive.  Aside  from  the  delightful 
homes  already  mentioned,  there  were  three  centers  of 
student  life :  the  fraternities  and  literary  societies,  the 
boarding  clubs  and  the  church.  The  fraternities  were 
the  Delta  Tau  Delta,  which  was  founded  at  Bethany, 
Phi  Kappa  Psi  and  Beta  Theta  Pi.  Mr.  McLean’s 
time  and  thought  were  too  closely  concentrated  upon 
the  serious  purpose  of  his  education  to  permit  his  en¬ 
tering  a  fraternity.  On  the  same  account  he  took  an 
active  part  in  the  American  Literary  Institute  and  the 
Adelphian  Literary  Society.  The  Adelphian  Society 
was  composed  especially  of  men  who  were  preparing 
for  the  ministry,  nearly  all  of  whom  were  members  of 
either  the  American  or  the  Neotrophian  Society,  as 
indeed  practically  all  the  rest  of  the  students  were. 
The  societies  had  ample  halls  in  the  north  wing  of  the 
college  building,  and  their  weekly  meetings  afforded 
expression  to  much  of  the  enthusiasm  and  college 
spirit  that  now  find  their  outlet  in  athletics.  The  meet¬ 
ings  were  conducted  strictly  according  to  Robert’s 
Rules  of  Order .  In  addition  to  the  president,  secre- 


FELLOW  STUDENTS 


67 


tary  and  treasurer,  there  were  first,  second  and  third 
critics.  The  duty  of  the  first  and  second  critics  was  to 
point  out  the  excellencies  and  deficiencies  in  the  per¬ 
formances  of  the  evening  from  a  literary  and  forensic 
standpoint.  The  function  of  the  third  critic  was  to 
call  attention  to  the  general  conduct  of  those  present, 
including  officers,  participants  in  the  program  and 
other  members.  The  office  and  dignity  of  the  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  society  did  not  exempt  him  from  the  excori¬ 
ations  of  the  third  critic,  and  the  punctilious  courtesy 
of  the  meetings  did  not  shield  visitors  from  his  atten¬ 
tion  if  their  conduct  was  not  becoming. 

The  program  consisted  regularly  of  declamations, 
essays,  orations,  debates  and  impromptu  speeches. 
Others  than  the  appointed  debaters  were  permitted  to 
take  part  in  the  debates,  and  visitors  were  always  ex¬ 
tended  the  freedom  of  the  floor,  with  the  formula, 

“Mr.  President :  I  see  that  Mr. - is  present  with  us 

this  evening,  and  I  move  that  he  be  asked  to  speak  on 
this  or  any  other  subject.* ’  Especial  interest  centered 
in  the  impromptu  class,  to  each  member  of  which,  after 
he  had  taken  his  place  on  the  platform,  the  president 
assigned  a  topic  on  which  he  was  expected  to  speak  for 
five  minutes. 

Each  year  *s  interest  in  the  literary  societies  reached 
its  climax  in  the  annual  election  of  officers  for  the  fol¬ 
lowing  year  and  speakers  for  two  of  the  societies* 
three  great  annual  public  performances;  commence¬ 
ment,  and  anniversary  in  the  fall.  The  celebration  of 
Washington’s  Birthday  was  a  sort  of  contest  between 
representatives  of  the  American  and  Neotrophian  so¬ 
cieties,  chosen  early  in  the  same  college  year.  Even 
the  least  diligent  students  who  had  kept  their  names 
off  the  society  rolls  until  the  spring  elections  ap¬ 
proached,  paid  their  membership  fees  of  five  dollars 
each  and  joined  one  or  the  other  of  the  societies  in 
order  to  have  a  share  in  deciding  these  contests. 


68 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


The  boarding  clubs  were  made  up  of  twenty  or 
thirty  boys  each,  who  were  assembled  at  the  begin¬ 
ning  of  the  school  year  by  the  student  who  served  as 
president  and  manager.  He  made  arrangements  with 
a  matron  who  had  the  equipment  and  experience  to 
provide  a  dining-room  and  prepare  and  serve  the 
meals.  He  purchased  the  food,  kept  the  accounts  and 
prorated  the  total  expense  for  each  week  among  the 
members,  exclusive  of  himself,  his  board  being  com¬ 
pensation  for  his  service.  The  weekly  board  bill  of 
the  students  at  this  time  in  the  several  clubs  was  about 
two  dollars.  The  rate  varied  in  different  clubs  and  at 
different  seasons  of  the  year,  being  higher  in  the 
spring  and  early  summer.  The  Kit-Kat  Club,  of 
which  Mr.  McLean  was  a  member,  was  especially  pop¬ 
ular  and  economical.  It  was  named  for  the  London 
club  immortalized  by  Addison,  Steele  and  Congreve. 
Its  rooms  were  in  the  basement  of  the  college  building 
and  its  table  was  enlivened  by  such  spirited  conversa¬ 
tion  that  the  members  mention  it  with  delight  as  an 
institution  distinctive  of  the  college  life  of  that  day, 
and  in  some  modest  measure  worthy  to  bear  the  ambi¬ 
tious  name  which  it  had  taken  upon  itself. 

The  total  expenses  were  only  a  fraction  of  what 
they  are  now,  especially  for  students  who  were  pre¬ 
paring  for  the  ministry  and  therefore  were  given  free 
tuition.  But  money  was  scarcer  then  and  the  relative 
cost  of  an  education  and  of  other  things  was  not  widely 
different  from  that  of  today.  At  any  rate,  a  bequest 
of  five  hundred  dollars  by  Dr.  C.  J.  White,  minister 
of  the  church  at  West  Rupert,  Vermont,  placed  in  the 
hands  of  Professor  Loos  to  use  in  behalf  of  students 
whom  he  found  especially  worthy,  and  by  him  divided 
between  Archibald  McLean  and  Neil  McLeod,  was  a 
welcome  addition  to  their  own  savings  and  their  fam¬ 
ilies  9  contributions  toward  the  cost  of  their  four  vears’ 

•/ 

residence  in  Bethany.  It  was  bestowed  like  a  scholar- 


COLLEGE  LIFE 


69 


ship  as  a  recognition  of  especial  merit  and  there  was 
no  compromise  of  dignity  or  independence  in  accept¬ 
ing  it. 

As  long  as  Alexander  Campbell  presided  over  the 
college  he  had  assembled  the  entire  student  body  at 
6:30  every  morning  for  Bible  study.  In  Mr.  McLean’s 
day  this  “morning  class”  had  given  place  to  a  chapel 
service  at  eight  o’clock,  which  usually  lasted  half  an 
hour,  and  which  all  students  were  required  to  attend. 
The  compulsory  rule  was  scarcely  necessary  however. 
Most  of  the  students  attended  the  Sunday  church  serv- 
ices  and  many  of  them  could  be  found  at  the  Wednes¬ 
day  evening  prayer  meeting  also.  Professor  Loos 
generally  preached  on  Sunday  and  President  Pendle¬ 
ton  presided  at  the  communion  service.  The  vigorous 
sermons  of  the  one  and  the  spiritual  talks  of  the  other 
are  among  the  finest  traditions  of  the  place.  Occa¬ 
sionally  the  more  advanced  students  were  invited  to 
preach  on  Sunday  evening,  and  the  Wednesday  eve¬ 
ning  meetings  were  almost  entirely  in  their  hands. 
Mr.  McLean  was  an  unfailing  attendant  at  all  these 
services,  and  each  of  them  added  its  distinctive  contri¬ 
bution  to  his  equipment  for  life. 

In  the  leadership  of  Pendleton,  Richardson  and 
Loos  there  was  a  rare  combination  of  the  finest  ele¬ 
ments.  There  was  scholarship  without  pedantry ; 
feeling  without  emotionalism;  spirituality  without 
cant;  naturalness  without  loss  of  dignity.  Most  of 
the  students  took  it  all  as  a  matter  of  course,  much  as 
they  did  the  sunrise  and  the  moonlight,  but  the  in¬ 
fluence  of  it  entered  richly  into  their  lives,  not  only  to 
bear  its  fruitage  in  after  years,  but  to  be  remembered 
and  consciously  appreciated. 

In  the  case  of  Archibald  McLean  the  appreciation 
of  the  manifold  advantages  enjoyed  at  Bethany  was 
immediate  and  abundant.  Under  the  benign  influence 
of  his  father  and  his  early  teachers  he  had  imbibed  a 


70 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


great  love  of  books  and  of  learning.  Then  he  left  the 
open  fields  and  the  schoolroom  for  six  laborious  years 
in  the  carriage  shop,  where  he  worked  twelve  hours  a 
day  under  a  strict  master  learning  an  exacting  trade. 
All  this  time  his  longing  for  knowledge  was  growing, 
though  suppressed  like  steam  confined  in  a  boiler. 

When  he  reached  Bethany  College,  he  found  it  a 
veritable  heaven  to  his  eager  soul.  Here  were  the 
great  books  of  the  world  in  what  seemed  to  him  lavish 
abundance;  here  were  great  men  and  glorious  women 
who  lived  familiarly  among  these  master  minds  of 
ages  past.  The  homes  of  these  immortals  received 
him  without  restraint.  In  some  of  these  homes  he 
found  men  and  women  of  his  own  age  and  of  kindred 
ambitions.  His  fellow  students  were,  in  the  main,  an 
elect  company  from  many  regions.  Around  the  whole 
was  the  beauty  of  the  West  Virginia  hills  surpassing 
even  his  native  Island.  Every  moment  of  the  four 
years  until  his  graduation  in  1874  marked  new  expan¬ 
sion  in  his  soul  and  new  deepening  of  his  fondness  for 
Bethany.  Throughout  life  he  loved  the  college  with 
exceeding  devotion  and  looked  back  to  it  with  ever 
growing  affection. 

How  faithfully  he  served  as  a  trustee !  How  eagerly 
he  returned  year  after  year  to  speak  to  his  successors 
in  the  classroom  concerning  the  great  world  into 
which  the  college  had  sent  him  and  the  supreme  work 
to  which  the  Master  Teacher  had  called  him  and  them ! 
How  gladly  he  turned  other  students  toward  the  doors 
of  the  college !  How  generously  he  gave  of  his  means 
to  help  its  service !  How  joyously  he  would  have  spent 
his  entire  life  in  the  realization  of  his  dreams  for  its 
greatness!  How  painfully  he  realized  that  he  was 
conscripted  for  other  service !  And  yet  how  heroically 
he  proved  the  complete  effectiveness  of  his  parental 
and  collegiate  training  in  his  lifelong  and  whole¬ 
hearted  leadership  in  the  missionary  cause ! 


CHAPTER  VI 


MT.  HEALTHY 

EARLY  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH — MC  LEAN’S  ENGAGEMENT  AS  PASTOR - 

THE  CHURCH'S  APPRECIATION  OF  ITS  MINISTER - HONORED  OUTSIDE  THE 

CHURCH - POPULARITY  WITH  THE  CHILDREN - HIGH  IDEALS  FOR  HIMSELF  AND 

HIS  PEOPLE - THE  CHURCH'S  REMARKABLE  ATTAINMENTS  IN  GIVING - THH 

PASTOR'S  CARE  OF  THE  CHILDREN - HIS  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  HIS  SUCCESSORS - 

RECIPROCAL  AND  UNDYING  AFFECTION. 

nPHE  chief  distinction  of  the  Christian  Church  at 
Mt.  Healthy,  a  suburb  of  Cincinnati,  is  that  for 
nearly  eleven  years  Archibald  McLean  was  its  pastor, 
but  it  was  no  small  credit  to  the  honor  graduate  of 
Bethany  College  in  June,  1874,  to  be  called  to  minister 
to  this  congregation.  The  church  had  been  organized 
October  12,  1839,  under  the  leadership  of  David  S. 
Burnet,  a  minister  of  distinction  who  had  come  out  of 
the  Baptist  church  to  share  in  the  Restoration  move¬ 
ment. 

For  ten  years  after  its  organization  the  church  con¬ 
tinued  to  meet  in  the  old  Free  Meeting  House,  which 
had  been  the  first  place  of  worship  erected  in  the  town. 
People  of  many  faiths  had  helped  in  its  construction, 
with  the  agreement  that  no  denomination  should  oc¬ 
cupy  it  for  two  consecutive  Sundays  if  another  wished 
to  use  it.  Early  in  the  ’30  ’s  the  Presbyterians  and 
United  Brethren  built  churches  for  themselves.  This 
gave  the  newly  organized  congregation  practically  un¬ 
limited  use  of  the  union  building  for  several  years. 
Then  the  interruptions  became  more  frequent,  and  they 
found  it  necessary  to  build  a  house  for  their  own  use, 
which  they  completed  and  occupied  December  1,  1849. 


71 


72 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


In  this  house  they  were  worshiping  when  Mr.  McLean 
became  their  minister.  The  old  house  still  stands,  hav¬ 
ing  been  converted  into  a  residence,  and  today  looks 
impossibly  small  to  have  served  for  so  many  years  as 
the  regular  or  occasional  preaching  place  for  such 
men  as  David  S.  Burnet,  Walter  Scott,  James  Challen, 
L.  H.  Jameson,  B.  U.  Watkins,  Henry  R.  Pritchard, 
Thomas  Munnell,  Benjamin  and  Joseph  Franklin,  L. 
L.  and  Elisha  Pinkerton,  John  Shackelford,  John 
Henry,  Isaac  Errett,  Knowles  Shaw,  George  Darsie, 
W.  T.  Moore,  Archibald  McLean  and  S.  M.  Jefferson, 
not  to  mention  other  less  famous  but  not  less  faithful 
men. 

We  speak  of  Mt.  Healthy  today  as  a  suburb  of  Cin¬ 
cinnati.  It  has  direct  connection  with  the  city  both 
by  interurban  cars  and  improved  highways  for  auto¬ 
mobiles,  but  in  1874  neither  the  electric  car  nor  the 
automobile  had  been  invented.  Mt.  Healthy  was  a 
detached  country  village  ten  miles  from  the  city,  which 
could  be  reached  only  by  driving  across  the  country 
or  by  using  the  inconsequential  steam  railroad  which 
ran  within  a  mile  of  the  village.  At  first  they  called 
it  Mt.  Pleasant,  then  changed  its  name  to  Mt.  Healthy 
to  avoid  confusion  with  another  village  that  had  pre¬ 
empted  the  former  name.  The  beauty  of  the  loca¬ 
tion  justifies  the  one  name  and  its  healthfulness 
the  other,  but  only  customary  license  allowed  to  those 
who  name  towns  permits  the  prefix  “Mt.,”  though 
it  is  one  of  the  highest  points  in  Hamilton  County.  A 
more  becoming  reserve  was  shown  in  the  designation 
of  College  Hill,  the  adjoining  suburb  on  the  Cincin¬ 
nati  side,  in  which  stands  Clovernook,  the  former  home 
of  Alice  and  Phoebe  Cary.  In  Mr.  McLean’s  day  Alex¬ 
ander  Domm,  a  member  of  the  Mt.  Healthy  Church, 
occupied  the  Cary  homestead  and  cheerily  welcomed 
his  pastor’s  frequent  visits. 


EARLY  MT.  HEALTHY  HISTORY 


73 


The  history  of  the  Mt.  Healthy  Church  falls  into 
two  distinct  periods.  Division  on  the  question  of  slav¬ 
ery  caused  the  entire  discontinuance  of  its  services  for 
five  years,  from  March  25,  1855.  Thomas  Munnell  re¬ 
organized  the  church  March  31,  1861,  with  twenty-one 
members.  In  the  meetings  that  were  held  to  bring 
about  the  reestablishing  of  the  church  everybody  had 
a  grievance  and  insisted  upon  telling  it.  When  their 
feelings  were  stirred  to  the  breaking  point  by  these 
recitals  the  leaders  would  start  a  hymn  and  bring  the 
congregation  into  a  better  frame  of  mind.  Finally 
agreement  was  reached  and  Love  H.  Jameson,  dis¬ 
tinguished  both  as  a  preacher  and  as  a  hymn-writer 
and  singer,  and  at  that  time  eighty  years  of  age, 
brought  the  meeting  to  its  climax  by  singing,  Is  My 
Name  Written  There ?  The  union  endured  in  the 
church  as  it  did  in  the  nation,  but  forty  years  later 
there  was  at  least  one  member  who  had  not  abandoned 
his  pro-slavery  views.  In  the  same  period  one  of  the 
elders  always  made  an  abolition  speech  when  he  pre¬ 
sided  at  the  communion  table. 

The  records  of  the  church  show  a  collection  for  mis¬ 
sionary  purposes  as  early  as  February  1, 1862.  There 
was  not  much  enthusiasm,  however,  for  the  contribu¬ 
tion  of  June  19,  1867,  was  only  $2.85.  In  1869  the 
church  elected  delegates  to  attend  the  quarterly  meet¬ 
ing  of  the  Tenth  District  Missionary  Society.  In  Feb¬ 
ruary,  1870,  it  passed  a  resolution  calling  upon  the 
Sunday  school  to  contribute  once  a  quarter  to  the 
missionary  work  in  Jamaica. 

Mr.  McLean’s  pastorate  began  June  21,  1874.  His 
formal  engagement  is  recorded,  Monday,  August  24, 
1874  as  follows : 

Brother  Isaac  Lane  moved  that  Brother  McLean  be  elected 
pastor  of  the  church.  The  chair  stated  that  he  would  re¬ 
mind  the  church  that  in  obedience  to  their  order  he  had 


74 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


invited  Brother  McLean  to  come  and  preach  for  the  church 
with  the  understanding  that  if  his  labors  proved  satisfactory 
he  would  be  employed  at  a  salary  of  $800.  He  had  now  been 
preaching  for  us  for  some  eight  or  ten  weeks,  and  it  was  due 
to  Brother  McLean  that  the  church  should  now  determine 
whether  they  would  employ  him.  The  motion  was  just  the 
step  needed  at  this  time.  The  motion  being  put  by  the  chair 
was  carried  unanimously.  Brother  McLean  appearing  in 
the  meeting  soon  after,  the  chair  said  he  had  the  satisfaction 
of  notifying  him  that  he  had  just  been  unanimously  chosen 
pastor  of  the  church,  to  which  he  briefly  responded  that  it 
would  be  his  pleasure  to  do  all  in  his  power  to  discharge  the 
duties  devolved  upon  him  to  the  best  of  his  abilities.  He 
asked  the  aid  and  the  prayers  of  the  church. 

The  more  thoughtful  members  of  the  church  real¬ 
ized  at  once  that  their  young  minister  was  a  man  of 
extraordinary  power  and  consecration.  Every  day 
that  he  continued  with  them  but  deepened  this  con¬ 
viction.  Gradually  the  citizens  of  the  entire  commu¬ 
nity  came  to  place  the  same  high  estimate  upon  his 
character  and  ability.  One  of  the  surviving  members 
of  that  day  refers  to  his  having  said  in  a  sermon  that 
everyone  who  looked  upon  the  statue  of  Apollo  for 
the  first  time  unconsciously  straightened  up  and  as¬ 
sumed  a  better  posture,  and  says  it  was  so  in  Mt. 
Healthy  with  those  who  knew  Mr.  McLean;  one  would 
not  meet  him  on  the  street  or  think  of  him  without  be¬ 
ing  challenged  to  live  up  to  his  standard. 

Among  the  members  of  the  Mt.  Healthy  Church  were 
a  number  of  men  and  women  of  strong  characters  and 
pronounced  personalities.  Isaac  Lane,  mentioned 
above  as  making  the  motion  to  engage  Mr.  McLean  as 
the  church’s  minister,  had  made  his  home  the  first 
station  out  of  Cincinnati  on  the  ‘  ‘  underground  rail¬ 
road”  to  the  north  by  which  runaway  slaves  were 
aided  to  escape  before  and  during  the  Civil  War. 
Jediah  S.  Hill  was  treasurer  of  the  church  for  many 
years.  Whether  he  or  Mr.  McLean  or  Joseph  F. 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN  AT  25 
The  Bethany  College  Graduate,  1874. 


‘ 


‘ 


APPRECIATED  AS  PASTOR 


75 


Wright  was  responsible  for  the  system  it  is  now  im¬ 
possible  to  say,  but  the  following  legend  appeared  on  a 
placard  where  anyone  entering  or  leaving  the  church 
could  not  fail  to  see  it. 

This  church  pays  its  pastor  every  week. 

It  pays  its  janitor  every  month. 

It  pays  all  other  bills  on  sight. 

It  owes  no  man  anything  but  love. 

This  good  record  is  possible  only  by  reason  of 
prompt  payment  of  dues  by  all  the  members. 

Do  you  owe  your  church  anything?  If  so, 

please  see  the  treasurer  before  leaving  the  house. 

The  treasurer  paid  the  minister  weekly  in  advance. 

Joseph  F.  Wright  was,  in  succession,  treasurer  of 
the  Cincinnati  Southern  Railroad,  insurance  commis¬ 
sioner  of  Ohio  and  secretary  of  the  University  of  Cin¬ 
cinnati.  His  wife  belonged  to  one  of  the  most  promi¬ 
nent  families  in  the  city  and  her  brother,  John  Gano, 
was  editor  of  the  Commercial  Tribune  for  many  years. 
Mr.  Wright  was  such  a  fatherly  adviser  of  the  young 
minister  from  the  first  and  such  a  steadfast  friend  in 
his  later  and  greater  work  that,  when  Mr.  Wright  died, 
Mr.  McLean  made  an  exception  to  his  rule  that  his 
successor  in  the  pastorate  should  officiate  at  all  fu¬ 
nerals  and  weddings  and  preached  the  funeral  sermon, 
taking  as  his  text  Genesis  49:22-24,  beginning, “Joseph 
is  a  fruitful  bough.”  The  substance  of  this  address 
he  printed  and  distributed  to  Mr.  Wright’s  friends. 

Other  men,  like  Henry  Moser  and  Wilson  Rogers, 
were  loyal  supporters  of  Mr.  McLean’s  ministry.  The 
'  fruits  of  that  ministry  appeared  in  the  young  men  who 
grew  up  under  it:  Clifford  Diserens,  William  Lane, 
Charles  Hill,  N.  P.  Runyan,  long  the  clerk  of  the 
church,  and  0.  C.  Smith,  for  many  years  superintend¬ 
ent  of  the  Sunday  school.  Many  whose  names  never 
got  on  the  church  books  were  almost  equally  devoted 


76 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


friends  of  Mr.  McLean.  After  lie  ceased  to  live  in  Mt. 
Healthy,  if  the  word  was  passed  around  that  he  was 
going  to  be  present  at  any  particular  service,  many 
men  of  the  community  would  be  there  just  to  get  a 
chance  to  shake  hands  with  him.  Whenever  it  was 
announced  that  Mr.  McLean  would  preach  the  house 
was  full  to  hear  him.  Before  he  started  on  his  journey 
around  the  world  C.  W.  Paris,  who  was  not  a  member 
of  the  church,  gave  a  farewell  banquet  in  his  honor. 

Judge  Charles  F.  Malsbary,  of  Cincinnati,  who  was 
principal  of  the  public  schools  of  Mt.  Healthy  from 
1884  to  1888,  wrote  the  day  after  Mr.  McLean’s  thirty- 
fifth  anniversary  as  an  officer  of  the  Foreign  Society : 

Mr.  McLean  took  an  interest  in  everything  that  was  for 
the  benefit  and  development  of  the  town  and  its  people, 
wrhether  the  object  sought  was  religious,  moral  or  commercial. 
As  much  as  any  man  I  have  ever  known  he  possesses  a  rare 
quality  of  intelligent,  decisive  conviction  in  all  essential 
things.  But  still  more  important,  he  possesses  that  rarer 
quality  which  never  fails  to  support  conviction  with  all  nec¬ 
essary  courage.  Some  men  have  great  heads  and  some  great 
hearts;  few  have  both.  Archibald  McLean  is  the  fortunate 
possessor  of  both. 

Mr.  McLean  had  no  art  of  elocution  to  attract 
attention.  On  the  contrary  his  voice  was  shrill  and 
he  aggravated  its  ill  effect  by  alternating  between  a 
scarcely  audible  monotone  and  an  almost  inarticulate 
shriek.  To  further  discourage  his  hearers,  in  those 
early  days  he  had  somewhat  of  a  Scotch  accent  and 
was  so  embarrassed  that  he  kept  his  eyes  fixed  on  a 
corner  of  the  ceiling.  But  he  had  something  to  say, 
not  his  own  word,  but  a  message  from  God,  and  the 
people  gave  heed  to  his  words.  Faithfully  he  spent 
his  mornings  and  nights  in  prayer  and  study  and  his 
afternoons  in  pastoral  ministrations.  Books  began  to 
accumulate  in  his  room  and  finally  filled  it  to  overflow¬ 
ing,  but  always  the  Bible  was  the  source  and  the  soul 


POPULARITY  WITH  THE  CHILDREN  77 


of  his  sermons.  This  is  not  only  the  testimony  of  those 
who  heard  him,  but  also  of  the  manuscripts,  for  he 
wrote  all  of  his  sermons  in  full  or  in  large  part  and 
never  destroyed  them,  as  he  did  his  personal  cor¬ 
respondence.  In  his  preaching  he  followed  closely 
what  he  had  written,  though  he  never  referred  even  to 
a  note  as  he  spoke.  He  dwelt  only  upon  the  great 
themes  of  the  gospel  and,  as  he  later  advised  young 
ministers,  preached  always  to  the  conscience. 

Perhaps  the  quickest  of  all  to  give  him  their  confi¬ 
dence  and  affection  were  the  little  children  of  the 
community.  John  T.  Snodgrass  was  one  of  the  charter 
members  of  the  church  and  was  elected  deacon  in  the 
reorganization  of  1861.  In  the  home  of  his  widow  Mr. 
McLean  rented  a  room  which  he  occupied  all  the  time 
he  lived  in  Mt.  Healthy.  Mrs.  Snodgrass  had  five 
small  grandchildren  who  grew  up  under  his  influence. 
It  was  his  custom  during  the  long  winter  evenings  to 
leave  his  room  for  half  an  hour  or  more  and  go  down 
into  the  living-room  for  a  romp  with  the  children.  His 
entrance  was  always  hailed  with  a  shout.  He  had  no 
more  thought  of  dignity  to  be  maintained  than  the 
youngsters  who  found  his  name  too  much  of  a  mouthful 
and  reduced  it  to  “Cainie,”  which  is  practically  the 
same  abbreviation  that  other  children  made,  inde¬ 
pendently,  even  to  the  last  of  his  life.  Sometimes  he 
would  get  down  on  all-fours  that  each  in  turn  might 
enjoy  a  ride  upon  his  back.  Again,  he  would  toss  them 
to  the  ceiling  while  their  grandmother  stood  by  mo¬ 
mentarily  expecting  their  heads  to  be  cracked.  Other 
athletic  stunts  were  tried  in  endless  variety;  the  chil¬ 
dren  all  the  while  intently  watching  for  his  next  move. 

He  bought  toys  and  other  gifts  for  his  little  friends, 
but  his  favorite  present  for  them  as  for  older  persons 
was  always  a  book.  A  survivor  of  this  juvenile  group 
says : 


78 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


It  was  wonderful  to  sit  on  his  knees  as  he  hugged  us  up 
to  his  great  heart,  and  we  listened  to  him  as  he  read  to  us 
from  Mark  Twain  and  Aesop ’s  Fables,  and  other  books 
peculiar  to  childhood  that  he  had  furnished  for  us.  As  we 
grew  older,  our  books  grew  with  us.  In  all  the  many  years 
since  my  first  Christmas  Mr.  McLean’s  priceless  gift  has  al¬ 
ways  reached  me,  even  unto  the  last;  wonderful  record  of 
his  continued  and  abiding  friendship. 

They  recall  too  how  he  carried  the  one  who  was 
lame  to  and  from  Sunday  school  on  his  shoulder.  An¬ 
other  little  friend  of  that  period  would  rush  to  his 
arms  as  soon  as  he  came  to  the  house  and  demand  that 
he  take  out  his  shirt  stud,  which  he  would  patiently  do 
that  she  might  have  it  in  her  own  hand  to  admire.  The 
pulpit  of  the  old  meeting  house  was  between  the 
two  front  doors,  and  anyone  entering  had  to  pass 
it.  One  morning  after  the  service  had  begun  a  little 
boy  came  in  and,  as  he  passed  Mr.  McLean,  said,  “I 
got  a  new  cap.”  Mr.  McLean  stopped  in  the  service 
and  said,  44 I  am  glad  of  it.”  He  would  not  hurt  the 
little  fellow ’s  feelings  by  seeming  to  ignore  him. 

The  other  side  of  his  manhood  and  of  his  faithful 
ministry  appeared  in  the  passionate  earnestness  of  his 
preaching.  4  4  Aunt  Sallie”  LaBoiteaux,  who  vied  with 
Mrs.  Snodgrass  as  to  which  could  be  the  better  mother 
to  him,  remonstrated  again  and  again  against  his 
preaching  so  loudly.  She  said  she  could  hear  him  half 
a  mile  away.  He  heard  her  criticism  with  patience 
and  even  with  appreciation,  but  replied  rather  sadly 
one  day,  4  4  It  would  be  as  easy  for  you  to  put  breeches 
on  a  comet  as  to  stop  me  when  I  get  started.  ’  ’ 

He  set  high  standards  both  for  the  individual  lives 
of  the  members  of  the  church  and  for  the  growth  and 
activity  of  the  congregation,  and  had  many  disap¬ 
pointments,  as  he  did  afterward,  at  the  head  of  the 
Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society,  in  striving  to 
lead  the  entire  brotherhood  into  more  adequate  mis- 


HIGH  STANDARDS 


79 


sionary  service.  In  his  later  years,  a  minister  visiting 
his  office  one  day,  said,  “Brother  McLean,  do  you  ever 
get  blue?”  and  received  instantly  the  answer,  “Blue? 
My  friend,  I  get  black!” 

He  found  relief  not  only  in  the  comradeship  of  his 
friends,  and  especially  the  prattle  of  the  children,  but 
preeminently  in  communion  with  God  and  in  reliance 
upon  his  unfailing  promises.  In  the  very  beginning 
of  his  ministry  he  made  up  his  mind  that  his  task  was 
to  preach  the  gospel  and  not  to  worry  about  results. 
It  was  this  principle  that  guided  him  in  his  missionary 
activity  and  gave  him  both  an  answer  to  the  objections 
of  those  who  argued  the  futility  of  the  work  and  an 
antidote  for  discouragement  in  his  own  heart. 

In  his  later  years  his  powerful  emotions  were  well 
under  control  at  all  times,  but  once  at  Mt.  Healthy 
when  preaching  on  repentance  from  the  text,  “Come 
unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I 
will  give  you  rest,”  he  became  so  affected  himself  that 
he  broke  down  and  wept  and  had  to  stop. 

Once  when  he  had  preached  a  strong  sermon  on 
temperance,  a  certain  man  accosted  him  on  the 
street  the  next  day  with  the  criticism,  “When  I  go  to 
church  I  go  to  hear  the  gospel,  not  a  tirade  on  temper¬ 
ance.”  Mr.  McLean’s  quick  rejoinder  was,  “My 
friend,  from  what  I  hear  of  your  habits  you  got  the 
exact  portion  of  the  gospel  last  night  that  especially 
applies  to  you.” 

Most  of  the  members  lived  in  the  country.  Regard¬ 
less  of  weather  and  the  condition  of  the  roads,  the 
young  minister  went  on  foot  to  visit  them  and  was 
especially  faithful  and  solicitous  when  there  was  any 
illness. 

In  1875  the  total  receipts  of  the  church  treasury 
were  $777.36;  for  missionary  purposes,  $36.20.  This 
was  the  year  the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  So- 


80 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


ciety  was  organized  in  Louisville,  Kentucky.  Both 
Archibald  McLean  and  F.  M.  Rains  were  present, 
neither  suspecting  that  he  was  to  have  such  a  large 
part  in  the  future  history  of  the  new  organization. 
In  Mr.  McLean’s  case  the  missionary  interest  started 
in  childhood  was  growing  continually. 

Year  by  year  throughout  his  ministry  and  that  of 
his  successors  the  church  advanced  steadily  in  the  lib¬ 
erality  and  regularity  of  its  giving  until  182  of  the  185 
resident  members  were  weekly  contributors  to  its  treas¬ 
ury.  “Of  the  three  who  did  not  give,  one  was  in  the 
county  infirmary  and  two  were  children.”  The  Sun¬ 
day  school  was  one  of  the  first  in  the  brotherhood  to 
give  as  much  as  a  hundred  dollars  on  Children’s  Day 
for  foreign  missions.  But  the  great  day  of  the  year 
was  the  first  Sunday  in  March  when  the  church  made 
its  annual  offering  to  foreign  missions.  Professor  A. 
C.  Gray  says  he  thought  himself  a  missionary  preacher 
when  he  went  to  Mt.  Healthy  as  pastor,  but  that  after 
one  experience  there  he  really  became  one.  Miss  Mary 
Hill,  as  church  treasurer,  sent  a  letter  and  a  contribu¬ 
tion  envelope  to  every  member,  not  forgetting  the  non¬ 
residents  or  even  the  “friendly  citizens”.  Mr.  Gray 
preached  the  customary  missionary  sermon  and  put  ten 
dollars  in  his  own  envelope,  which  seemed  a  generous 
offering  in  proportion  to  his  salary.  In  the  afternoon 
he  assisted  the  treasurer  to  open  the  envelopes  and 
count  the  offering.  Dr.  Kilgour’s  envelope  contained 
fifty  dollars  and  Miss  Hill’s  a  like  amount,  though 
school  teachers  were  not  even  as  well  paid  then  as  now. 
Girls  who  were  working  in  local  tailor  shops  gave 
five  and  ten  dollars  each.  In  an  unmarked  envelope 
were  five  new  ten-dollar  bills.  Altogether  the  offering- 
amounted  to  five  hundred  dollars.  Of  course  the  anon¬ 
ymous  contribution  was  from  Mr.  McLean  and  it  came 
regularly  every  year,  as  did  also  his  payments  toward 


MT.  HEALTHY  GROWTH  IN  GIVING  81 


the  current  expenses  of  the  church,  although  he  had 
transferred  his  membership  to  Central  Church,  Cincin¬ 
nati,  and  was  giving  heavily  there  and  directly  to  vari¬ 
ous  causes.  How  the  habit  abides  with  Mt.  Healthy 
people  is  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  one  of  the  mem¬ 
bers  now  has  a  “ missionary  room”  in  her  home  which 
she  rents  that  she  may  add  the  proceeds  to  her  contri¬ 
butions. 

In  April,  1877,  against  his  habit,  Mr.  McLean  him¬ 
self  conducted  revival  services  in  the  church.  His 
sermons  of  that  period  carried  not  only  an  evangelistic 
appeal  to  those  outside  of  the  church  but  earnest  ex¬ 
hortations  and  instructions  to  the  members  of  the 
church  to  engage  in  personal  evangelism.  He  insisted 
that  one  ought  to  feel  as  free  to  talk  to  his  friends 
about  the  supreme  interests  of  his  life  as  upon  busi¬ 
ness,  politics  or  social  affairs.  But  he  always  found 
difficulty  in  doing  so  himself.  The  growth  of  the 
church  under  his  ministry  was  steady  and  was  more 
manifest  in  individual  life  and  character  than  in  num¬ 
bers. 

Mr.  McLean  had  many  calls  to  leave  the  little  Mt. 
Healthy  Church,  but  gave  them  no  consideration. 
Years  after  the  close  of  his  ministry  there,  some  of  the 
members  learned,  incidentally,  that  larger  churches  in 
more  promising  fields  had  offered  him  twice  the  salary 
he  was  receiving. 

Among  the  little  friends  who  quickly  became  at¬ 
tached  to  Mr.  McLean  at  Mt.  Healthy  were  Ellie  Kin¬ 
ney,  the  five-year-old  daughter  of  a  widowed  mother, 
and  Josephine  and  Helen  Moser,  whose  father  and 
mother,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  Moser,  were  prominent 
in  the  church.  After  they  had  started  to  school  he 
had  frequent  arguments  with  them.  One  of  his  favorite 
tricks  was  to  get  the  children  to  spell  for  him,  making 
each  word  a  little  harder  than  the  last  until  they  were 


82 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


“  stumped/  ’  Then  with  mock  seriousness  he  would 
voice  his  distress  that  they  did  not  know  how  to  spell. 
He  took  especial  delight  in  this  sort  of  performance 
with  Ellie  Kinney  and  Josephine  and  Helen  Moser. 
The  last  named  had  gone  triumphantly  through  a  long 
list  of  words  one  day,  until  he  pronounced  Nagasaki. 
As  quickly  as  before  she  spelled, 4  ‘  Nockysocky.  *  ’  This 
of  course  he  greeted  with  hearty  laughter  which  was 
more  than  half  admiration  of  her  courage.  But  how¬ 
ever  he  teased  them  during  the  week,  Ellie  and  Jose¬ 
phine  were  loyally  in  their  places  on  the  front  seat 
when  Sunday  came.  Just  before  they  reached  their 
teens  they  had  attained  such  proficiency  in  music  that 
Josephine  became  the  church  organist  and  Ellie  her 
alternate.  Years  later,  and  at  distant  places,  when  an 
accompanist  was  required,  without  hesitation  Mr. 
McLean  would  call  upon  Mrs.  W.  C.  Payne,  the  Ellie 
Kinney  of  Mt.  Healthy.  Especially  in  the  morning 
prayer  meetings  at  the  annual  international  conven¬ 
tions  he  depended  upon  her  for  this  service.  At  what¬ 
ever  inconvenience,  she  always  managed  to  be  there 
on  time,  and  will  remember  forever  his  gracious  words 
of  appreciation  at  the  close  of  his  last  convention. 

He  gave  the  children  a  chance  to  take  part  in  prayer 
meeting,  beginning  with  the  reading  of  Scripture  pas¬ 
sages  which  he  handed  out  on  numbered  slips.  Then 
he  encouraged  them  to  assist  in  the  singing  in  the 
church  services  as  well  as  in  Sunday  school  and  prayer 
meetings.  He  called  so  frequently  for  favorite  selec¬ 
tions  like,  Majestic  Sweetness  Sits  Enthroned ,  0  God 
Our  Help  in  Ages  Past  and  Remember  Me,  that  the 
singers  of  that  day  need  no  book  to  sing  them  now.  As 
the  girls  learned  to  play  and  sing  he  encouraged  them 
by  giving  them  collections  of  music  of  such  value  that 
they  preserved  them  as  heirlooms,  and  tickets  for  The 
Messiah  in  Music  Hall,  Cincinnati,  which  made  such  a 


CARE  OF  CHILDREN 


83 


profound  impression  that  the  oratorio  has  been  sing¬ 
ing  in  their  hearts  ever  since.  Frequently  he  called  at 
their  homes  to  have  them  play  and  sing  for  him ;  still 
teasing  them  on  occasion,  as  when  he  declared  that 
Josephine  had  sung,  “And  for  ‘bony’  Annie  Laurie, 
I’d  lay  me  doon  and  dee!”  These  impromptu  private 
concerts  always  ended  with  his  saying,  “Now  sing 
Nearer  Home,  and  I  will  go  home.”  The  first  verse  of 
the  song  is, 

O’er  the  hills  the  sun  is  setting, 

And  the  eve  is  drawing  on — 

Slowly  droops  the  gentle  twilight, 

For  another  day  is  done. 

The  chorus  runs, 

Nearer  Home,  nearer  Home, 

Nearer  to  our  Home  on  high: 

To  the  green  fields  and  the  fountains, 

Of  the  land  beyond  the  sky. 

When  the  memorial  services  were  held  in  the  Mt. 
Healthy  Church,  February  27,  1921,  both  Josephine 
(Mrs.  N.  P.  Runyan)  and  Ellie  were  present.  In  the 
evening  Mrs.  Payne’s  was  the  last  address.  At  its 
close  she  sat  down  at  the  same  organ  she  had  used  as 
a  girl  and  sang  again  for  him  and  for  those  who  had 
loved  him,  Nearer  Home,  with  the  thought  that  per¬ 
haps  he  heard  although  he  had  4  ‘  gone  home.  ’  ’ 

It  was  natural  and  according  to  custom  that  those 
who  had  grown  up  under  his  teaching  and  influence, 
whom  he  had  baptized,  prepared  for  college  and 
guided  by  his  counsel  all  the  way,  should  ask  him  to 
officiate  at  their  weddings.  Characteristically,  he  said, 
“We  have  a  pastor;  he  is  the  one  to  perform  the 
ceremony.  I  shall  be  glad  to  be  present  and  assist  in 
any  way  I  can.  ’  ’  This  was  his  rule  in  their  cases  and 
in  every  similar  instance  of  marriage  or  funeral.  Every 
minister  who  succeeded  Mr.  McLean  at  Mt.  Healthy 


84 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


found  him  doing  everything  he  could  out  of  his  own 
accumulated  honor  and  affection  in  the  community  to 
strengthen  the  pastor’s  hand  and  extend  his  influence. 
He  manifested  the  same  spirit  in  his  cooperation  with 
the  pastors  of  the  Central  Church  and  with  all  of  the 
other  ministers  about  Cincinnati. 

He  had  the  joy  of  seeing  his  successors  reap  the 

fruitage  of  his  sowing.  The  first  five  of  them  came 

from  Bethany  College  and  with  one  exception,  each  of 

the  five  was  called  immediately  after  his  graduation  to 

make  this  his  first  pastorate,  just  as  Archibald  McLean 

had  done.  All  came  within  the  twelve  years  during 

which  Mr.  McLean  continued  to  live  in  Mt.  Healthy. 

* 

The  succession  was:  F.  M.  Dowling,  who  resigned  to 
become  professor  of  Latin  in  Bethany  College;  C.  J. 
Tannar,  who  went  to  the  stronger  church  in  Walnut 
Hills,  Cincinnati;  E.  E.  Curry,  who  accepted  a  call  to 
the  church  at  Bedford,  Ohio;  W.  J.  Wright,  who  be¬ 
came  eastern  evangelist  and  then  secretary  of  the 
American  Christian  Missionary  Society;  A.  L.  Chap¬ 
man,  who  went  to  Constantinople  as  a  missionary  un¬ 
der  the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society.  Each 
of  them  left  Mt.  Healthy  to  take  up  what  he  considered 
more  important  work.  To  each  Mr.  McLean  was  a 
loyal  friend,  a  wise  counselor  and  a  steadfast  sup¬ 
porter.  But  every  effort  he  made  to  efface  himself  and 
exalt  his  successor  made  the  people  love  him  more. 
They  did  their  best  to  honor  and  follow  these  succes¬ 
sive  pastors,  just  as  Mr.  McLean  urged  them  to  do, 
and  the  church  grew  and  throve  under  their  ministry 
— and  his!  What  difference  could  office  or  title  make 
in  the  relation  existing  between  Archibald  McLean 
and  the  Mt.  Healthy  Church! 

Most  of  his  Sundays  he  sjDent  elsewhere,  pleading 
the  cause  of  missions.  But  even  when  he  was  present 
he  seldom  consented  to  preach,  and  then  avoided  his 


MT.  HEALTHY 

Left,  the  old  church  changed  into  a  residence ;  right,  the  Snodgrass  home, 
where  Mr.  McLean  occupied  the  left  room,  second  floor,  22  years  ;  below, 
present  church,  the  main  part  built  in  his  pastorate. 


ATTITUDE  TOWARD  SUCCESSORS  85 


favorite  theme,  feeling  that  to  be  the  pastor’s  prerog¬ 
ative  and  duty.  The  communion  table  and  Wednes¬ 
day  evening  prayer  meeting  afforded  him  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  reenforcing  the  regular  minister’s  work  and 
at  the  same  time  expressing  the  deepest  and  most  vital 
passion  of  his  soul,  his  love  of  God. 

When  one  of  the  young  preachers  came  for  his  first 
Sunday  Mr.  McLean  was  away  but  returned  in  time 
for  the  evening  service.  Instead  of  taking  his  custom¬ 
ary  seat  near  the  pulpit  he  dropped  into  one  of  the  rear 
pews  where  the  minister  did  not  discover  him  until 
the  service  closed.  It  did  not  take  any  of  them  long 
to  discover  that  there  was  nothing  in  Mr.  McLean’s 
presence  to  embarrass  them.  On  the  contrary  he 
was  such  a  sympathetic  and  eager  listener  that  he 
inspired  them  to  do  their  best.  Always  he  found  some¬ 
thing  good  in  the  sermon  which  he  could  sincerely 
praise.  If  anything  seemed  to  require  adverse  criti¬ 
cism  he  offered  it  with  such  modestv  and  kindness  that 
it  was  always  gratefully  and  profitably  received.  One 
morning  the  pastor,  stirred  to  action  by  the  late  Wil¬ 
bur  F.  Crafts,  announced  that  he  would  preach  that 
night  on  the  Sabbath  question.  After  the  service  Mr. 
McLean  asked  him  whether  he  had  read  F.  W.  Robert¬ 
son,  Horace  Bushnell  and  Alexander  Campbell  on  the 
subject.  He  had  not.  “Come  to  my  room  and  take 
them  home  and  read  them  this  afternoon.  You  will 
preach  better  tonight.  ’  ’  The  flood  of  new  light  on  the 
question  caused  the  postponement  of  the  sermon  and 
the  substitution  of  another  which  the  young  man  felt 
was  safer  for  that  night.  If  one  of  them  asked  for 
a  book  on  any  subject  which  he  was  studying  Mr. 
McLean  was  apt  to  load  him  down  with  a  bushel  of  vol¬ 
umes  bearing  directly  upon  it.  But  it  was  not  neces¬ 
sary  for  them  to  ask;  his  library  was  always  open  to 
them. 


86 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Even  after  Mr.  McLean  had  moved  to  Walnut  Hills 
the  people  of  Mt.  Healthy  continued  to  claim  and 
secure  his  presence  with  them  in  times  of  sorrow  and 
of  joy.  On  the  death  of  Calvin  Robinson,  the  pro¬ 
slavery  man  referred  to  above,  Mr.  Gray  asked  Mr. 
McLean  to  attend  the  funeral,  at  the  request  of  the  be¬ 
reaved  family.  He  readily  consented,  but  as  usual  said 
he  would  not  speak.  The  church  was  crowded  and  Mr. 
McLean  sat  on  the  edge  of  the  rostrum  holding  his 
umbrella.  Mr.  Gray  had  been  there  only  a  few  months 
and  knew  Mr.  Robinson  principally  as  a  positive  old 
man  who  lived  in  the  past  and  was  always  denouncing 
the  North  for  making  war  on  the  South.  The  funeral 
sermon  was  not  a  eulogy.  After  the  preacher  had 
sat  down  and  just  as  Mrs.  Runyan  was  starting  to  play 
the  accompaniment  for  the  last  hymn,  the  former  pas¬ 
tor  arose  suddenly,  walked  over  to  the  pulpit,  laid  his 
umbrella  across  it  and  said,  “I  want  to  say  something 
about  this  good  man.  ’  ’  Then  followed  a  glowing  trib¬ 
ute  in  which  generous  loyalty,  steadfast  friendship 
and  genuine  sorrow  magnified  the  virtues  and  over¬ 
looked  the  failings  of  a  very  human  man. 

The  crowning  incident  of  Archibald  McLean’s  rela¬ 
tion  with  the  Mt.  Healthy  Church  must  close  this  chap¬ 
ter.  He  had  been  living  in  the  city  for  some  time  and 
attending  Central  Church  whenever  he  was  at  home 
over  Sunday  or  on  Wednesday  evening.  A.  M.  Har- 
vuot,  the  minister  of  Central,  was  anxious  to  have  him 
elected  as  an  elder  of  that  congregation.  To  make  this 
possible  Mr.  McLean  asked  the  Mt.  Healthy  pastor,  Mr. 
Gray,  to  call  for  a  letter  transferring  his  membership 
to  the  city  church.  Mr.  Gray  made  the  request  at  the 
Sunday  morning  service,  according  to  custom  in  such 
matters,  but  contrary  to  all  precedents  one  of  the  offi¬ 
cers  arose  and  moved  that  the  letter  be  not  granted. 
Another  seconded  the  motion  immediately  and  the  con- 


UNDYING  AFFECTION 


87 


gregation  supported  it  unanimously!  Mr.  McLean 
might  live  elsewhere,  since  his  work  required  it,  but 
his  church  membership  must  continue  at  Mt.  Healthy. 
The  pastor  was  wise  enough  not  to  argue  with  their 
affection.  Two  months  later  he  repeated  the  request 
and  the  church  granted  the  letter  as  a  formal  conces¬ 
sion  to  necessity  which  left  their  minister  still  sing¬ 
ing  in  his  heart, 


0  love  that  wilt  not  let  me  go  ! 


PART  II 


VINDICATING  MISSIONS 


CHAPTER  VII 


DRAFTED  FOR  MISSIONS 


FOREIGN  SOCIETY  ORGANIZED - SEVEN  YEARS  OF  SLOW  GROWTH — MCLEAN 

BECOMES  SECRETARY — FIRST  MISSIONARIES  TO  A  NON-CHRISTIAN  FIELD - 

LOCATION  OF  INDIA  MISSION — THREE  YEARS  OF  DOUBLE  WORK— CHANGES 

CHIROGRAPH Y - WORK  IN  ENGLAND — BUDGET-MAKING  THEN  AND  NOW - FIRST 

MISSIONARIES  TO  JAPAN  AND  CHINA - THE  BROTHERHOOD  COMMITTED  TO 

MISSIONS. 


GROUP  of  influential  men,  with  W.  T.  Moore  as 


the  moving  spirit  and  Isaac  Errett  as  the  leading 
personality,  organized  the  Foreign  Christian  Mission¬ 
ary  Society,  October  21, 1875,  at  Louisville,  Kentucky, 
located  its  headquarters  in  Cincinnati,  and  incorpo¬ 
rated  it  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Ohio.  The  organ¬ 
ization  of  the  American  Christian  Missionary  Society, 
with  headquarters  in  the  same  city,  had  preceded  it  in 
1849.  The  American  Society’s  original  purpose  was 
“to  promote  the  spread  of  the  gospel  in  destitute 
places  in  home  and  foreign  lands,”  but  its  efforts  be¬ 
yond  the  borders  of  the  home  land  had  stopped  with 
the  missions  of  Dr.  J.  T.  Barclay  to  Jerusalem,  J.  0. 
Beardslee  to  Jamaica  and  Alexander  Cross  to  Liberia, 
all  of  which  had  been  abandoned.  Not  only  so,  but  the 
smallness  of  its  receipts,  only  $4,671.10  in  1875, 
limited  to  negligible  proportions  the  work  which  it 
was  carrying.  Many  felt  that  nothing  would  ever  be 
done  for  the  regions  beyond  unless  a  specific  effort 
was  made  in  their  behalf  and  that,  as  proved  true, 
the  response  to  the  foreign  appeal  would  stimulate 
giving  to  the  home  work.  The  same  dissatisfaction 
with  inaction  had  led  in  1874  to  the  organization  of  the 


91 


92 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Christian  Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  for  both  home 
and  foreign  work. 

The  first  corresponding  secretary  of  the  Foreign 
Society  was  Robert  Moffett  of  Cleveland,  Ohio,  but 
early  in  the  year  he  resigned  and  the  executive  com¬ 
mittee  elected  W.  T.  Moore,  then  minister  of  the 
Central  Church,  Cincinnati,  to  succeed  him.  This 
change  was  made  in  the  interest  of  convenience  and 
economy.  The  officers  received  no  pay  for  their  serv¬ 
ices  and  only  $20  a  year  for  clerical  help.  For  the 
promotion  of  the  work  they  depended  upon  appeals 
published  through  the  church  papers  and  occasional 
circulars.  These  means  being  found  insufficient,  they 
employed  Z.  T.  Smith,  of  Eminence,  Kentucky,  to 
spend  part  of  his  time  in  field  work.  He  secured  offer¬ 
ings  from  eighteen  churches  in  Kentucky.  Among 
the  seventy-six  individual  gifts  of  that  first  year  was 
$20  from  A.  McLean,  as  the  first  payment  on  $100  to 
enroll  himself  as  a  life  member.  He  had  not  been 
an  indifferent  onlooker  at  the  organization  of  the  so¬ 
ciety.  The  total  receipts  of  that  year  were  $1,706.35. 

In  1877  the  executive  committee  employed  W.  B. 
Ebbert  as  bookkeeper  at  $100  per  year,  the  work  to 
be  done  in  connection  with  his  regular  occupation. 
Later  they  elected  him  corresponding  secretary  and 
allowed  him  $500  per  year  and  a  small  percentage  of 
the  receipts  above  $10,000,  for  salary  and  expenses. 
He  resigned  in  1882  and  the  executive  committee  chose 
Archibald  McLean  as  his  successor  in  the  difficult 
task.  They  had  not  inquired  of  him  whether  he 
would  serve  and  made  no  haste  to  inform  him  of  their 
action;  it  was  two  days  before  the  word  reached  him. 
But  they  knew  the  man,  though  they  did  not  suspect, 
any  more  than  he  did,  that  when  he  entered  upon  his 
duties,  March  4,  1882,  a  new  era  dawned  not  merely 


BECOMES  SECRETARY  93 

for  the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society  but  also 
for  the  Disciples  of  Christ. 

The  year  1882  witnessed  the  actual  beginning  of  the 
work  for  which  the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  So¬ 
ciety  had  been  created  seven  years  before.  All  that 
time  no  one  had  been  found  willing  and  qualified  to 
undertake  work  in  a  non-Christian  land.  On  the  4th 
of  February,  1882,  just  a  month  before  Mr.  McLean 
took  up  his  duties  as  secretary,  the  society  voted  to 
send  G.  L.  Wharton  and  Albert  Norton  and  their  wives 
to  India  as  soon  as  sufficient  fluids  were  in  hand.  Mr. 
Wharton  was  then  minister  of  the  Richmond  Avenue 
Church  in  Buffalo,  New  York.  Mr.  Norton  had  been 
for  five  years  a  missionary  in  India  under  the  Meth¬ 
odist  board.  While  at  home  on  furlough  he  met  Mr. 
Wharton  and  discovered  that  his  views  were  in  sub¬ 
stantial  agreement  with  those  held  by  the  Disciples  of 
Christ.  So  he  severed  his  former  relations,  was  bap¬ 
tized  by  Mr.  Wharton  and  united  with  the  Richmond 
Avenue  Church. 

The  Christian  Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  sent 
four  young  women  to  India  at  the  same  time.  These 
were  Miss  Mary  Graybiel,  Miss  Ada  Boyd,  Miss  Mary 
Kingsbury  and  Miss  Laura  Kinsey.  Miss  Kinsey 
later  married  Ben  N.  Mitchell,  who  went  from  Liver¬ 
pool,  England,  as  a  missionary  to  India. 

It  was  a  great  day  not  only  for  these  two  societies 
but  for  the  whole  body  of  people  that  they  repre¬ 
sented  when  this  company  of  eight  left  America,  Sep¬ 
tember  16,  1882,  for  their  chosen  field. 

After  due  deliberation  the  missionaries  decided  to 
settle  in  the  Central  Provinces,  the  geographical  heart 
of  India,  and  established  their  first  station  at  Harda, 
the  chief  town  in  a  rich  and  populous  district  and  a 
favorable  center  because  of  the  attitude  of  its  people 
and  its  healthfulness,  as  well  as  the  large  field  that 


94 


AKCHIBALD  McLEAN 


was  accessible  without  encroaching  upon  the  territory 
of  older  missions.  Forty  missionary  societies  were 
working  in  India  when  the  Disciples  entered  that  land. 
The  oldest  one  had  been  there  177  years  and  another 
133  years.  It  was  ninety  years  since  the  arrival  of 
William  Carey  and  fifty-three  years  since  the  coming 
of  Alexander  Duff.  But  in  the  meantime  railroads  had 
been  built  into  the  interior  which  opened  up  districts 
that  the  earlier  missionaries  could  not  occupy  to 
advantage.  Harda  is  416  miles  northeast  of  Bombay. 
The  people  of  the  region  speak  the  Hindi  language.  In 
religion  they  are  either  Hindus  or  Mohammedans. 

About  the  time  the  mission  was  established  Mr. 
Norton  resigned  because  of  his  conscientious  objection 
to  receiving  a  fixed  salary  and  his  temperamental  in¬ 
ability  to  work  with  other  people.  (The  boards  had 
decided  within  the  year  that  a  definite  allowance  was 
more  practical  and  more  fair  to  the  missionary  than 
the  original  promise  to  secure  and  forward  sufficient 
for  their  support.)  Morton  D.  Adams,  minister  of 
the  church  in  Steubenville,  Ohio,  promptly  took  the 
vacant  place  and  sailed  with  his  wife  for  India,  Sep¬ 
tember  23,  1883,  just  a  year  and  a  week  after  the  first 
group  went  out. 

For  three  years  Mr.  McLean  continued  to  preach 
at  Mt.  Healthy,  carrying  on  at  the  same  time  the  work 
of  the  society.  Throughout  this  period  he  kept  the 
books,  wrote  the  letters  with  his  own  hand  and  at¬ 
tended  to  all  the  business  of  the  society. 

Under  date  of  October  18,  1882,  the  board  of  man¬ 
agers  meeting  in  Lexington,  Kentucky,  appended  to 
the  report  of  the  executive  committee,  which  Mr. 
McLean  had  written,  the  following  statement: 

The  board  in  adopting  the  foregoing  report  as  submitted 
by  the  executive  committee  deems  it  proper  to  communicate 


DOUBLE  WORK  95 

to  the  society  some  facts  and  considerations  not  set  forth  in 
the  report. 

1.  The  present  corresponding  secretary,  who  entered  on 
his  duties  March  4,  1882,  and  has  given  much  of  his  time 
to  this  work,  and  to  whom  this  executive  committee  appro¬ 
priated  compensation  at  the  rate  of  $500  per  year,  generously 
declined,  in  view  of  the  urgent  demands  on  the  treasury,  to 
receive  a  cent  of  said  compensation,  insisting  on  making  a 
donation  of  his  time  and  services.  It  is  due  to  him  and  to  the 
society  that  this  should  be  known,  to  guard  against  the  im¬ 
pression  that  as  a  rule  such  services  are  to  be  rendered 
gratuitously. 

2.  The  smallness  of  the  per  cent  of  the  expenses  this  year 
grows  largely  out  of  increase  of  the  contributions.  It  should 
be  understood  that  as  our  receipts  increase,  the  percentage 
of  expense  will  decrease. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  instead  of  giving  part  time  serv¬ 
ice  either  to  the  church  or  to  the  society,  Mr.  McLean 
was  doing  the  full  work  of  two  men.  The  manuscripts 
of  1,047  sermons,  practically  two  for  every  Sunday 
in  his  eleven  years  at  Mt.  Healthy,  and  the  erection 
of  a  new  church  building  completely  paid  for  and 
dedicated  clear  of  debt,  when  he  gave  up  the  pastorate 
to  devote  himself  entirely  to  the  work  of  the  society, 
show  that  he  did  not  abate  in  the  least  his  service  to 
the  church.  On  the  other  hand,  the  books  of  the  so¬ 
ciety  indicate  that  he  was  giving  it  a  man’s  full 
service.  With  his  vigorous  advocacy,  and  stimulated 
by  the  sending  forth  of  the  first  missionaries  to  a  non- 
Christian  field,  the  receipts  leaped  from  $13,178.46  in 
1881,  to  $25,063.94  in  1882,  his  first  year. 

Most  people  become  careless  about  their  handwrit¬ 
ing  as  they  grow  older,  so  that  from  year  to  year  it 
loses  legibility ;  with  Mr.  McLean  it  was  just  the  other 
way.  While  he  was  in  college  and  during  his  early 
years  at  Mt.  Healthy  his  writing  was  extremely  dif¬ 
ficult  to  read.  His  sister  Sarah  (Mrs.  Cannon)  was 
the  only  member  of  the  family  at  home  who  was  equal 


96 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


to  the  task.  In  those  days  he  wrote  scarcely  anything 
but  sermons  and  letters  home.  He  took  it  for  granted 
that  the  family  were  so  familiar  with  his  script  that 
they  could  read  it  easily,  and  he  did  not  suppose  that 
anyone  but  himself  would  ever  have  occasion  to  read 
the  sermons.  When  he  became  secretary  of  the  For¬ 
eign  Society  he  realized  that  both  its  records  and  the 
letters  written  in  its  name  must  be  legible,  so  he  gave 
care  to  improving  his  writing.  The  most  important 
official  correspondence  of  that  period  he  preserved  in 
copy  books. 

While  seeking  some  one  to  send  to  a  non-Cliristian 
land  the  society  was  irresistibly  led  to  do  its  first  work 
in  England.  H.  S.  Earl  had  preached  in  Australia  and 
in  England,  Ireland,  Scotland  and  Wales  with  marked 
success.  He  had  arranged  to  return  to  England  in 
1875  at  his  own  charges.  He  was  present  when  the 
society  was  organized  and  asked  it  to  assume  the  direc¬ 
tion  and  assistance  of  his  work,  but  refused  to  go  to 
any  other  field.  He  met  with  phenomenal  success  in 
Southampton,  with  only  slight  aid  from  the  society. 
Then  Timothy  Coop  of  Southport  offered  to  bear  the 
major  expense  of  sending  more  American  preachers  to 
England,  while  there  was  little  money  and  no  men  for 
any  other  field.  The  leading  of  these  19th  century 
disciples  to  Europe  seemed  as  clearly  providential  as 
that  which  took  Paul  and  Luke  thither  in  the  first  cen¬ 
tury. 

W.  T.  Moore,  founder  of  the  society,  had  resigned 
the  pastorate  of  Central  Church,  Cincinnati,  and  gone 
to  England  in  1878  as  a  missionary  of  the  society.  The 
following  letter  addressed  to  him  will  prove  of  interest 
on  several  accounts: 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  March  21,  1882. 

Dear  Brother  Moore: 

Brother  Ebbert,  the  genial  and  faithful  secretar}r  of  the 
society  for  so  many  years,  has  gone  west  to  live  and  his 


TRANSFORMATION  IN  HANDWRITING 


WORK  IN  ENGLAND 


97 


official  mantle  has  fallen  on  me.  I  know  that  I  cannot  hope 
to  fill  his  place  but  I  wish  to  do  the  best  I  can.  If  the  woman 
who  sinned  was  forgiven  because  she  loved  much,  I  may  hope 
to  be  forgiven  my  many  blunders  for  the  love  I  have  for 
the  cause  of  missions. 

I  write,  especially,  to  send  you  the  proceeds  of  $200  for 
the  support  of  your  work.  I  have  ventured  to  take  $50  out 
of  the  month’s  salary  on  your  life  directorship  which  you 
generally  pay  about  this  time.  You  will  therefore  credit  the 
society  with  $250  and  charge  it  $50  on  your  life  director¬ 
ship.  I  trust  this  will  be  perfectly  agreeable. 

I  sent  you  a  few  days  ago  some  blanks  which  you  will 
find  very  convenient  in  making  out  a  statement  of  your  work. 
It  is  the  wish  of  the  board  that  all  missionaries  render  a 
monthly  statement  of  their  work,  showing  its  exact  condition, 
as  far  as  is  practicable.  These  blanks  were  prepared  for  this 
express  purpose  and  it  is  hoped  that  you  will  furnish  us 
with  a  full  and  complete  account  of  your  work  in  London. 
With  kindest  regards  to  Sister  Moore, 

I  remain,  yours  truly, 

A.  McLean. 

A  year  later  Mr.  McLean  wrote  to  M.  D.  Todd,  wlio 
had  followed  H.  S.  Earl  to  England  early  in  1878: 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  March  20,  1883. 

Dear  Brother  Todd : 

I  enclose  you  $166.66,  less  $42.17  paid  James  Fillmore  by 
your  order.  I  trust  this  will  reach  you  safely. 

The  board  is  much  pleased  over  your  progress  and  pros¬ 
pects.  It  does  seem  as  if  a  better  day  was  now  dawning 
upon  your  mission  in  Liverpool.  Joe  Coop  must  be  a  capital 
fellow.  I  would  like  much  to  meet  him. 

Brother  I.  J.  Spencer,  one  of  the  editors  of  the  Atlantic 
Missionary,  published  at  Gordonsville,  Virginia,  wants  all 
our  missionaries  to  send  him  notes  direct.  He  is  a  warm 
friend  of  missions.  His  paper  is  doing  a  vast  deal  of  good 
in  that  line.  If  you  can  send  him  a  line  occasionally  you  will 
sow  in  good  ground. 

That  just  reminds  me.  You  remember  D.  W.  Storer,  a 
man  wrho  sent  you  $500  last  March?  Well,  thereby  hangs  a 
tale.  He  told  it  to  Isaac  Errett  a  few  days  ago.  When  you 
were  in  Dayton,  you  went  to  Akron  to  attend  the  state  meet- 


98 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


ing.  You  stayed  at  Storer ’s  home,  and  had  A.  Burns  for 
a  roommate.  Burns  was  somewhat  cranky  and  sour  and 
you  used  to  set  him  right.  So  Storer  says,  and  he  took  a 
fancy  to  you  and  never  forgot  you.  That  led  him  to  give 
you  $500.  You  rode  home  from  that  meeting  in  Akron  with 
Errett.  You  told  him  you  were  sorry  you  went,  that  time 
and  money  were  thrown  away.  You  thought  so  then.  But 
ten  years  after,  you  see  the  fruit  of  it.  That  $500  saved 
your  mission  in  Liverpool,  it  led  Joe  Coop  to  open  his  heart 
and  purse,  and  now  you  see  prosperity  and  a  great  permanent 
work  in  Liverpool.  Errett  asked  me  to  write  you  this  about 
Storer,  as  he  says  you  had  evidently  forgotten  all  about  the 
matter. 

I  wish  you  health  and  prosperity  even  as  thy  soul  prospers. 

Sincerely, 

A.  McLean,  Corresponding  Secretary. 

Between  the  dates  of  these  two  letters  there  is  some 
correspondence  with  G.  L.  Wharton  regarding  the  new 
mission  in  India.  This  throws  no  little  light  upon 
the  character  of  the  man  at  each  end  of  the  line,  and 
is  interesting  also  in  giving  the  stage  from  which  the 
work  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  in  foreign  lands  has 
developed.  The  making  of  the  budget  for  the  foreign 
department  of  the  United  Christian  Missionary  So¬ 
ciety  today  is  a  task  over  which  many  persons  labor 
for  many  weeks.  First,  the  missionaries  of  each  sta¬ 
tion  make  up  a  statement  of  their  minimum  necessi¬ 
ties  much  as  Wharton  and  Norton  were  asked  to  do 
in  1882.  The  missionaries  of  each  field  in  conference 
compare  and  coordinate  these  figures  and  reduce  them 
again.  They  then  transmit  this  budget  to  the  society 
at  home.  Here  the  officers  of  the  foreign  department 
assemble  the  askings  of  all  the  ten  foreign  fields  and 
compare,  combine  and  condense  to  the  figure  that  it 
seems  the  resources  available  for  this  work  will  per¬ 
mit  for  the  coming  year.  These  figures  are;  submitted 
to  the  budget  committee  with  the  proposed  budgets  of 
all  the  other  departments  of  the  United  Society.  Here 


BUDGET-MAKING 


99 


there  is  another  process  of  analysis,  comparison  and 
reduction  before  the  estimates  become  recommenda¬ 
tions  to  the  executive  committee  upon  which  rests 
the  responsibility  for  the  final  determination  of  the 
actual  amounts  which  they  may  in  faith  appropriate, 
anticipating  the  funds  that  the  society  will  receive 
during  the  year  to  provide  for  the  work  from  month  to 
month.  The  difference  between  the  two  processes  is 
as  great  as  that  between  the  receipts  of  the  two 
periods;  $25,000  a  year  then  and  nearly  $3,000,000  a 
year  now  (1923). 

Mr.  McLean  wrote  as  follows : 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  December  20,  1882. 
Dear  Brother  Wharton : 

All  your  letters  have  come  to  hand  and  have  been  pub¬ 
lished  in  all  our  papers.  They  have  been  read  with  great 
delight  by  many  thousands.  Your  friends  look  for  good  re¬ 
sults  in  your  new  field  of  labor. 

I  have  just  written  to  Brother  Norton  as  directed  by  the 
board.  I  will  write  to  you  on  the  same  topic.  The  board 
thinks  it  would  be  better  for  you  and  for  us  to  have  a  cer¬ 
tain  amount  appropriated  for  the  support  of  the  mission 
than  to  go  on,  you  not  knowing  what  you  are  to  receive,  and 
we  not  knowing  what  to  pay.  Business  is  business,  and  we 
had  better  settle  this  question.  What  do  you  think  would 
be  sufficient  to  maintain  yourself  and  family  for  one  year? 
What  would  you  consider  as  fair  compensation?  There  is 
no  disposition  to  deal  niggardly  with  you.  We  want  to  do 
what  will  be  satisfactory  to  you.  The  year  will  begin,  I 
suppose,  from  the  day  you  sailed,  September  16.  You  know 
what  your  expenses  out  were.  Deduct  this  from  half  of 
the  sum  paid  Brother  Norton  for  the  mission,  and  you  will 
know  how  much  is  to  be  charged  to  first  salary.  The  rest 
can  be  paid  as  you  need  it  and  care  for  it. 

Another  thing.  If  you  have  not  sent  an  exact  account 
of  the  money  you  received  in  England,  do  so  at  once.  Brother 
Norton  reported  one  sum  and  you  another.  I  did  not  know 
whether  what  you  reported  was  a  part  of  what  he  reported 
or  a  separate  sum.  Be  clear,  as  you  are  always,  so  that  no 
mistakes  be  made.  I  can  write  no  more.  I  wish  you  all 


100 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


well.  May  you  prosper  abundantly.  Kindest  regards  to 
Mrs.  Wharton  and  to  you. 

Sincerely  yours, 

A.  McLean. 

The  first  missionaries  to  Japan  were  sent  out  in 
1883.  There  were  four:  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  E. 
Garst  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  George  T.  Smith.  Mr.  Garst 
was  a  graduate  of  West  Point.  The  reading  of  Isaac 
Errett’s  editorials  in  the  Christian  Standard  had  led 
him  to  identify  himself  with  the  Disciples  of  Christ. 
He  married  Miss  Laura  DeLany,  a  granddaughter  of 
Jonas  Hartzell,  one  of  the  pioneer  preachers  of  the 
Restoration  movement.  His  mother  had  prayed  that 
he  might  be  a  minister  of  the  gospel.  His  wife’s  in¬ 
fluence  led  in  the  same  direction  and  they  finally  re¬ 
solved  to  sell  their  herd  of  western  cattle  to  secure 
means  for  their  support  as  missionaries  in  Africa.  But 
a  dry  summer  killed  the  cattle  and  they  accepted  the 
Foreign  Society’s  call  to  Japan.  It  was  eight  years 
after  President  Grant  had  made  him  a  lieutenant  that 
he  resigned  his  commission  as  a  captain  in  the  United 
States  Army  to  enter  the  greater  service  in  which  he 
spent  the  remainder  of  his  life.  His  daughter  Gretclien, 
born  in  Japan,  now  continues  his  labors  there.  Mr. 
Smith  was  a  classmate  of  Mr.  McLean  in  Bethany 
College.  His  daughter,  Mrs.  Jaggard,  is  a  missionary 
in  Congo.  A  letter  to  each  one  in  the  first  year  of 
their  service  is  characteristic  of  the  writer  and  instruc¬ 
tive  as  to  the  work  of  that  day. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  September  21,  1884. 

Dear  Brother  Garst: 

Your  postal  and  letter  received.  The  accounts  are  all 
right  now.  Your  success  is  very  gratifying.  We  all  rejoice 
over  the  first  Japanese  convert  from  heathenism,  and  hope 
that  he  may  be  the  first  fruits  of  a  great  harvest  of  souls. 
We  hope  to  create  considerable  enthusiasm  in  the  convention 
over  this  first  convert  from  paganism. 


FIRST  MISSIONARIES  TO  JAPAN  101 


The  time  for  the  animal  convention  is  approaching.  One 
month  from  today  the  first  of  the  series  opens.  I  am  expect¬ 
ing  a  report  from  you  for  the  annual  report.  I  hope  it  will 
arrive  in  good  time. 

The  physician  (Dr.  W.  E.  Macklin)  we  propose  to  send  to 
assist  you  is  a  young  man  of  uncommon  ability.  Those 
who  know  him  best  are  surprised  that  he  should  sacrifice  his 
brilliant  prospects  to  become  a  medical  missionary.  His 
large  and  growing  practice  would  enrich  him  in  the  course 
of  a  few  years.  He  is  represented  by  competent  judges  as  a 
very  superior  man.  He  will  be  able  to  preach  or  teach  as 
well  as  practice  medicine.  He  is  in  great  earnest.  We  hope 
for  the  very  best  results  from  his  association  with  you.  We 
will  not  likely  be  able  to  send  any  others  for  some  time. 
Our  funds  are  low;  besides,  good  men  are  hard  to  get.  I 
wish  you  all  health  and  prosperity. 

Sincerely, 

A.  McLean. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  November  24,  1884. 

Dear  Brother  Smith : 

I  enclose  two  drafts,  one  for  yourself  for  the  proceeds  of 
$200,  and  one  for  Brother  Garst  for  $100.  He  did  not  ask 
for  any  money.  You  did.  I  hope  you  will  both  be  pleased. 

The  political  campaign  is  ended,  but  our  receipts  are  not 
large.  The  excitement  interfered  with  all  our  work.  I  hope 
the  people  will  soon  come  to  themselves  and  come  too  to  the 
realization  that  there  are  twenty-five  missionaries  who  are 
depending  upon  them  for  support. 

The  society  wants  me  to  give  my  whole  time  to  the  work 
I  expect  to  do  so  from  the  first  of  January.  I  will  be  a  pil¬ 
grim  and  a  stranger  from  that  date.  I  do  not  know  what 
the  result  will  be,  but  hope  for  the  best. 

I  got  an  idol  a  few  days  ago.  I  do  not  know  what  it 
means.  Who  is  he,  or  she,  or  it?  Please  explain.  I  have 
quite  a  pantheon  here  now.  I  wish  you  well. 

Sincerely, 

A.  McLean. 

In  the  correspondence  of  1884,  we  find  a  letter  that 
marks  the  beginning  of  one  of  the  most  illustrious 
missionary  careers  in  the  annals  of  the  society,  that 


102 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


of  Dr.  William  E.  Macklin,  from  the  Lobo  (now  Pop¬ 
lar  Hill)  Church,  near  London,  Ontario,  Canada,  In¬ 
cidentally,  it  introduces  again  the  question  of  salary 
and  expense  and  on  the  same  simple  basis  adopted 
with  the  earlier  missionaries. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  July  3,  1884. 

Dear  Brother  Macklin : 

Both  letters  came  to  hand.  The  delay  in  answering  was 
owing  to  the  fact  that  it  is  not  always  easy  to  get  a  meeting 
of  our  board.  All  great  bodies  move  slowly.  Boards  are  no 
exception.  We  meet  once  a  month  in  regular  session.  We 
had  a  called  meeting  today  to  take  action  on  your  case.  I 
sent  you  a  telegram  informing  you  of  your  appointment. 
You  are  expected  to  labor  in  connection  with  our  mission¬ 
aries  in  Japan.  Your  expense  out  will  be  borne  by  us.  The 
board  will  allow  you  also  a  reasonable  amount  for  the  ad¬ 
ditional  outfit  needed,  and  for  such  books  and  periodicals 
as  you  may  require.  The  salary  remains  to  be  agreed  upon 
by  you  and  the  board,  after  your  arrival  on  the  ground. 
This  is  the  course  we  pursued  with  our  other  missionaries 
and  it  proved  entirely  satisfactory.  It  is  understood  that 
you  go  into  the  work  as  a  permanent  thing  and  not  as  an 
experiment.  There  may  arise  contingencies  in  which  it 
would  be  wisest  and  best  for  you  to  return,  but  we  hope 
not.  We  have  an  understanding  with  our  other  missionaries 
that  they  are  to  come  home  once  in  seven  years  if  they  wish. 
The  board  will  grant  you  the  same  privilege.  Our  policy  is 
to  deal  with  all  in  our  employment  as  generously  as  pos¬ 
sible.  Whatever  is  right,  we  will  do.  We  are  public  serv¬ 
ants  and  must  do  the  best  we  can  for  all  concerned.  It  is 
the  conviction  of  the  board  that  God  has  raised  you  up  for 
such  a  time  and  such  a  work  as  this.  We  earnestly  hope 
and  pray  that  our  wishes  concerning  you  may  be  more  than 
realized. 

In  my  next  I  will  give  you  a  copy  of  the  resolution  of  the 
board.  I  thought  I  had  it  with  me  but  I  find  that  the  record¬ 
ing  secretary  has  it  in  his  book. 

Now,  a  question.  Will  it  suit  you  to  start  some  time  in 
September?  This  is  a  good  month  to  cross  the  Pacific  and  a 
good  season  of  the  year  to  begin  work  in  Japan.  It  is  the 


DR.  MACKLIN  GOES  TO  CHINA  103 

wish  of  the  board  that  some  time  in  September  you  should 
start. 

I  can  write  no  more  now.  I  wish  you  well.  May  the  God 
of  all  grace  be  with  you  and  keep  you  and  make  you  a  bless¬ 
ing  to  thousands  who  are  now  sitting  in  the  horrors  of  great 
darkness. 

Sincerely  yours, 

A.  McLean. 

Recognizing  the  efficiency  of  the  native  Japanese 
physicians,  the  board  soon  decided  not  to  open  a  med¬ 
ical  mission  in  that  country,  and  Dr.  Macklin  went 
on  to  China,  where  he  was  greatly  needed,  as  the 
results  since  have  demonstrated.  He  had  been  in 
Japan,  however,  long  enough  to  warrant  returning  to 
that  country  for  a  vacation  while  Miss  Dorothy 
DeLany  was  visiting  her  sister  Mrs.  Garst.  Out  of 
their  meeting  grew  a  happy  and  fruitful  missionary 
alliance  utterly  foreign  to  the  earlier  dreams  of  the 
care-free  young  lady. 

Above  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  in  the  Mississippi 
River  at  Minneapolis  one  may  see  a  log  floating 
slowly  down  the  stream,  held  out  of  the  main  current 
by  the  boom.  Finally  it  reaches  the  chute  at  the  falls 
and  is  caught  by  the  current,  drawn  quickly  into  the 
chute  and  sped  like  a  shot  down  to  the  pool  below  the 
falls.  One  moment  it  was  scarcely  moving,  the  next, 
in  the  same  water,  its  speed  was  like  that  of  an  arrow. 
In  similar  fashion  the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary 
Society  seemed  for  some  years  scarcely  to  move  to¬ 
ward  its  appointed  task,  even  as  for  seventy  years 
before  the  Disciples  had  seemed  indifferent  to  a  vital 
part  of  their  Lord’s  final  command.  Then  the  current 
of  divine  purpose  caught  the  society  and  the  churches 
which  it  represented.  At  once  missionaries  went  forth 
to  India,  to  Japan,  to  China,  and  under  its  auspices  S. 
M.  Jefferson  even  got  as  far  as  London  on  the  way  to 
Africa,  but  turned  back  when  convinced  by  Henry  M. 


104 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Stanley  and  others  familiar  with  the  Congo  that  it 
would  be  unwise  to  attempt  anything  there  without 
more  workers  and  at  least  $25,000.  All  of  this  came 
to  pass  within  three  years.  No  wonder  the  society  felt 
that  its  secretary  should  give  up  his  pastorate  and 
concentrate  all  his  energies  on  the  missionary  task. 
No  wonder  the  procession  of  events  became  to  Mr. 
McLean  himself  the  clear  call  of  God  to  leave  his 
beloved  flock  and  give  himself  entirely  to  the  supreme 
enterprise  of  the  whole  brotherhood. 

We  speak  truly  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  having 
finally  committed  themselves  to  carrying  out  the  great 
commission  of  their  Lord  in  its  entirety,  though  as  yet 
it  was  only  a  minority  of  the  members  and  congrega¬ 
tions  that  were  actually  enlisted  in  the  effort.  These 
few  were  representative  and  their  action  unerringly 
forecast  what  the  whole  body  would  do  in  the  course 
of  time.  It  would  be  a  long  time,  as  men  count,  and 
their  enlistment  would  be  a  slow  and  painful  process, 
but  it  was  all  as  unavoidable  as  sunrise.  The  twenty- 
five  missionaries  had  gone  forth  from  the  homes  and 
hearts  of  the  churches.  Their  brethren  would  never 
recall  them,  but  rather  would  send  out  others  to  re¬ 
enforce  them  and  still  others  to  emulate  their  deeds  in 
other  lands.  The  first  missionary  grave  had  been 
made  on  the  other  side  of  the  sea.  A  strange  and 
irresistible  sense  of  oneness  and  of  purpose  ran 
through  the  brotherhood  with  the  news  of  Josephine 
W.  Smith’s  death  and  burial  in  Japan.  The  Christian 
Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  had  no  direct  part  in  the 
Japan  mission  but  they  led  the  mission  bands  of  chil¬ 
dren  to  raise  quickly  a  fund  of  $25,000  to  erect  the 
Josephine  W.  Smith  Memorial  Church  in  Akita,  Japan, 
the  first  of  the  seventy-five  mission  buildings  which 
the  children  were  to  provide  within  the  next  twenty- 
five  years.  Not  every  member  of  every  church  felt  the 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN,  PASTOR-SECRETARY 

Age  about  33. 


DISCIPLES  COMMITTED  TO  MISSIONS  105 


new  day  that  had  dawned,  but  McLean,  in  his  mystic 
Highland  soul,  felt  it  for  every  one.  Most  of  those 
who  consciously  shared  the  great  impulse  might  have 
lost  it  in  a  year  or  a  decade,  but  the  loyal  heart  of 
McLean  could  neither  waver  nor  let  his  brethren  for¬ 
get.  Already  his  prophetic  eye  saw  the  Disciples  of 
Christ  a  world  power  for  the  consummation  of  the 
divine  will. 


CHAPTER  VIII 


CONCENTRATING  HIS  ENERGY 

CLOSING  HIS  PASTORATE - OVERCOMING  OPPOSITION  AND  INDIFFERENCE - 

INTENSITY  AND  BREADTH — MANNERISMS — INDIFFERENCE  TO  CROWDS — IN¬ 
FLUENCE  UPON  STUDENTS — USE  OF  THE  PRINTED  PAGE — LOOS  SUCCEEDS 

ERRETT — ECUMENICAL  CONFERENCE  OF  1888  IN  LONDON - MULTIPLYING 

PROBLEMS. 

TN  the  annual  report  of  the  Mt.  Healthy  Church  for 
A  1885  appear  the  following  statements : 

The  past  year  has  been  one  of  mingled  sorrow  and  joy. 
Brother  McLean’s  resignation  at  the  beginning  of  the  year 
threw  a  deep  gloom  over  the  church  and  community.  His 
continued  presence  and  help  have  dispelled  much  of  it. 

The  dedication  of  the  new  church,  April  5,  Easter,  with 
no  debt  and  a  balance  on  hand,  was  a  most  joyous  and  in¬ 
teresting  occasion. 

It  seems  that  he  had  expected  to  close  his  work  with 
the  church  at  the  end  of  the  calendar  year  1884,  and 
to  begin  full  time  service  with  the  missionary  society 
the  first  of  January,  1885,  but  probably  because  of  the 
failure  of  the  church  to  secure  a  successor  at  once,  he 
continued  to  occupy  the  pulpit  until  the  end  of  March. 
The  books  credit  him  with  a  larger  cash  contribu¬ 
tion  toward  paying  for  this  building  than  any  other 
member.  How  much  else  he  gave  on  the  church’s  cost 
incidentally,  no  one  has  ever  known. 

At  the  celebration  of  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
church  in  1889,  Joseph  F.  Wright,  one  of  the  leading 
members  of  the  church,  in  giving  a  historical  sketch 
of  the  half  century,  said,  “It  is  not  necessary  that  I 
should  speak  of  the  fidelity  and  efficiency  of  Brother 

106 


CLOSING  HIS  PASTORATE 


107 


McLean’s  labors  among  us,  for  his  name  has  become 
a  household  word  and  his  influence  for  good  in  this 
community  will  be  manifest  when  the  stars  of  heaven 
shall  have  fallen  to  the  earth. 9  9 

Some  months  later  Mr.  McLean  occupied  the  pulpit 
of  the  Richmond  Street  Church,  Cincinnati,  one  Sun¬ 
day  morning  when  Isaac  Errett,  founder  of  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Standard  and  the  first  president  of  the  Foreign 
Christian  Missionary  Society,  was  present.  Jessie 
Brown  Pounds,  then  on  the  staff  of  the  Standard  Pub¬ 
lishing  Company  and  later  the  most  popular  song 
writer  of  the  Disciples,  said  that  the  next  day  while 
walking  to  and  fro  in  his  office  in  deep  meditation,  Mr. 
Errett  stopped  and  observed,  “No  wonder  the  church 
at  Mt.  Healthy  is  a  power.  It  could  not  be  otherwise 
after  having  so  long  had  the  benefit  of  Brother 
McLean ’s  teaching. 9  9 

In  spite  of  the  inconvenience,  and  the  time  and 
strength  consumed  in  going  back  and  forth  to  Cincin¬ 
nati,  Mr.  McLean  still  made  his  home  at  Mt.  Healthy. 
He  could  not  bear  to  sever  the  relationships  that  had 
grown  up  during  the  eleven  years  of  his  ministry 
there.  It  was  not  only  his  devotion  to  the  congrega¬ 
tion  and  community  as  a  whole,  but  to  Grandmother 
Snodgrass  in  particular,  that  made  him  unwilling  to 
change  his  residence.  He  frequently  left  home  before 
sunrise,  walking  to  the  station  outside  the  town  of  Mt. 
Healthy  to  take  the  train.  In  the  evening  he  returned 
at  7:30  and  had  his  dinner  at  home.  “Aunt  Sallie” 
LaBoiteaux,  who  lived  near  the  station,  improved  the 
opportunity  as  he  passed  to  strengthen  her  claim  as 
one  of  his  foster  mothers  by  always  having  some  but¬ 
termilk  ready  for  him  to  drink.  He  was  as  fond  of  the 
Metchnikoff  specific  as  his  friend  Hugh  McDiarmid 
was  of  candy. 

With  the  close  of  his  pastorate  he  began  visiting  the 


108 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


churches  and  speaking  everywhere  possible  in  the  in¬ 
terest  of  foreign  missions.  It  is  not  easy  to  realize  now 
the  bitterness  of  the  opposition  that  he  encountered  in 
many  quarters  or  the  density  of  the  ignorance  and  in¬ 
difference  which  he  met  almost  everywhere  else.  On 
one  occasion  he  told  of  a  collection  that  was  taken  in  a 
certain  strong  church,  and  quoted  grimly,  “  Alexander 
the  coppersmith  did  me  much  evil.  ’  ’ 

Once  in  the  sympathetic  atmosphere  of  the  students  * 
missionary  society  at  Bethany  College,  he  told  of 
some  of  his  experiences,  of  the  meager  offerings  made 
by  great  churches  and  of  the  unwillingness  of  other 
prominent  churches  to  have  the  subject  of  missions 
even  mentioned  from  their  pulpits,  and  remarked 
sadly,  “I  shall  die  ten  years  before  my  time  because 
of  this  slowness  of  our  people.’ ’ 

The  story  of  his  visit  to  one  country  church  in  this 
first  year  of  his  field  work,  appeared  in  the  Missionary 
Intelligencer  twenty  years  later. 

About  1885,  Mr.  McLean  visited  the  church  at  Mayslick, 
Kentucky.  It  was  winter  time  and  a  heavy  snow  had  fallen. 
The  weather  was  intensely  cold.  It  was  in  midweek  and 
as  most  of  the  congregation  lived  in  the  country,  there  were 
only  three  present.  Someone  proposed  that  they  go  home 
and  wait  for  a  more  favorable  time.  Brother  McLean  said, 
“No,  brethren,  we  must  have  our  meeting.’ ’  He  had  the 
three  brethren  sit  together  next  to  the  front  seat,  and  gave 
them  one  of  his  masterly  talks  on  the  great  work  of  saving 
the  world.  The  minister,  writing  twenty  years  later,  said 
that  he  made  their  hearts  burn  -within  them,  and  that  they 
became  so  deeply  convinced  of  the  church’s  duty  that  they 
never  ceased  to  talk  and  urge  foreign  missions.  “Perhaps 
the  conditions  and  character  of  this  meeting  did  more  for 
the  cause  of  wo  rid- wide  missions  than  had  it  been  as  de¬ 
sired  by  those  present.” 

There  was  manifest  in  his  addresses  not  only  tre¬ 
mendous  earnestness,  but  encyclopedic  knowledge  of 
the  whole  field  of  missions.  The  hearers  naturally  as- 


INTENSITY  AND  BREADTH 


109 


sumed  that  such  consuming  earnestness  must  exclude 
interest  in  all  other  subjects,  that  the  acquisition  of 
such  exhaustive  knowledge  in  his  special  field  had  left 
no  time  for  acquiring  information  on  any  other  sub¬ 
ject.  But  on  fuller  acquaintance,  and  especially  when 
he  came  into  their  homes,  they  discovered  that  every¬ 
thing  human  concerned  him  and  that  scarcely  a 
topic  could  be  mentioned  on  which  he  was  not  well 
informed.  Furthermore,  his  knowledge  was  accurate 
as  well  as  extensive  and  he  neglected  no  opportunity 
for  increasing  it.  He  kept  abreast  of  current  history 
not  only  in  the  United  States  and  Canada  but  through¬ 
out  the  world.  With  a  tender  devotion  to  his  native 
Canada  and  splendid  loyalty  to  the  United  States,  he 
was  a  citizen  of  the  world.  He  spoke  with  astonish¬ 
ment  of  a  minister  somewhere  who  thought  he  could 
live  without  a  daily  paper.  As  for  himself,  he  read 
with  quick  discrimination  and  masterly  comprehen¬ 
sion,  not  only  the  local  daily  papers  wherever  he  hap¬ 
pened  to  be,  but  one  from  New  York  as  well.  He  also 
included  several  British  publications  in  his  regular 
reading.  Everywhere  he  went  he  inquired  eagerly 
into  local  history  and  special  industries.  In  a  brief 
conversation  his  sympathetic  interest  would  elicit  a 
large  part  of  the  personal  history  of  his  companion, 
who  would  be  surprised  later  to  recall  that  he  had 
learned  nothing  whatever  about  Mr.  McLean. 

The  strength  of  his  convictions,  and  his  courage  and 
energy  in  advocating  them,  created  the  first  impres¬ 
sion  in  all  who  heard  Mr.  McLean’s  addresses,  that  he 
was  on  fire  with  one  great  passion — the  proclamation 
of  the  gospel  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Especially  in 
this  period  he  appeared  like  another  John  the  Baptist 
crying  in  the  wilderness  of  men’s  ignorance  and  in¬ 
difference,  “Make  ye  straight  the  way  of  the  Lord.” 
His  face  and  figure  seemed  almost  emaciated.  One 


110 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


did  not  need  to  be  told  that  lie  was  denying  himself  the 
ordinary  comforts  of  life,  taking  scant  time  for  sleep 
and  no  time  whatever  for  recreation,  in  his  consuming 
devotion  to  the  great  cause  which  he  had  espoused. 
Peter  the  Hermit,  preaching  the  crusades  and  crying 
his  slogan,  “God  Wills  It!”  was  not  a  more  austere 
and  uncompromising  figure  than  A.  McLean  in  the 
’80 ’s  challenging  the  people  who  had  magnified  the 
great  commission  to  see  that  its  first  word  was  6  6  Go.  ’  ’ 
That  word  he  would  shriek  until  it  seemed  almost  to 
rattle  the  windows  and  make  the  rafters  tremble. 

In  his  missionary  addresses,  as  in  his  sermons,  his 
appeal  was  to  the  more  thoughtful  and  intelligent 
hearers  rather  than  to  the  crowd.  He  scorned  the 
arts  of  popularity.  His  principal  gesture  was  a  quick 
jerk  of  the  right  hand  to  his  forehead  as  if  to  throw 
back  an  overhanging  lock  of  hair.  This  usually  pre¬ 
ceded  a  statement  of  especial  importance.  Again,  he 
would  pull  at  his  collar  as  if  it  were  choking  him.  His 
attention  being  called  to  these  mannerisms  by  intimate 
friends  he  resolutely  set  about  abandoning  them,  so 
that  in  his  later  years  they  had  practically  disap¬ 
peared.  There  remained  just  a  rudiment  of  the  right 
hand  gesture  that  stopped  short  when  the  forearm  was 
at  a  right  angle  with  the  upper  arm.  It  was  really 
pathetic,  and  those  who  had  attempted  to  reform  him 
should  have  been  ashamed  of  their  petty  officiousness. 
But  his  voice  was  never  brought  under  control. 

After  reaching  their  hotel  one  evening  during  a 
Student  Volunteer  convention,  he  inquired  of  A.  E. 
Cory  concerning  one  of  the  principal  speakers,  “My 
friend,  why  does  John  R.  Mott  shove  out  his  chin 
like  that  when  he  speaks?”  “I  suppose  it  is  a  man¬ 
nerism.  Most  public  speakers  have  some  sort  of 
mannerism.  ”  “  Mannerism !  Mannerism !  ’  ’  exclaimed 
A.  McLean,  emphasizing  his  earnestness  by  thrusting 


INDIFFERENCE  TO  CROWDS 


111 


his  hand  up  to  his  forehead  and  then  as  suddenly  grip¬ 
ping  his  collar,  “Public  speakers  have  no  business 
having  mannerisms. ’  ’  In  spite  of  his  respect  for  his 
senior,  Cory  broke  out  in  a  hearty  laugh.  Then  Mr. 
McLean  asked,  “What  are  you  laughing  at?”  Before 
the  young  missionary  could  answer,  the  point  dawned 
upon  him  and  lie  too  laughed.  “It  was  funny,  wasn’t 
it?”  he  remarked  after  a  while. 

He  seems  to  have  striven  to  impress  a  few  people 
profoundly  rather  than  the  multitude  slightly.  J.  H. 
Craig  once  expressed  his  regret  that  there  was  not  a 
large  crowd  present  to  hear  him  when  he  spoke  in  the 
church  at  Bellevue,  Pennsylvania.  Mr.  McLean  an¬ 
swered  instantly,  “My  friend,  I  am  not  concerned 
about  the  size  of  the  crowd  that  hears  me;  the  Master 
never  cared  for  large  crowds.  One  of  His  greatest 
sermons  was  preached  to  one  woman.  Most  of  his 
work  was  done  with  the  twelve  apostles.  It  is  not  the 
multitude  that  counts  but  the  leaders.”  Everywhere 
he  went  the  leaders  heard  him  gladly,  and  neither  they 
nor  the  people  over  whom  they  exercised  an  influence 
were  the  same  afterwards. 

His  special  care  was  to  visit  the  colleges  and  to 
speak  to  the  students  who  were  preparing  for  the  min¬ 
istry.  Here  lie  found  the  most  sympathetic  hearers. 
The  students’  love  of  sincerity  and  scorn  of  everything 
artificial  made  them  not  merely  ignore  his  peculiar¬ 
ities  of  manner  and  speech  but  feel  all  the  more 
strongly  the  greatness  of  his  addresses  because  of  this 
unusual  emphasis.  It  was  the  message  about  which 
they  were  concerned  and  not  its  vehicle.  He  was  al¬ 
ways  at  his  best  when  speaking  to  students.  Many  a 
man  who  had  gone  to  college  without  definite  purpose, 
or  with  a  secular  career  in  view,  turned  to  the  ministry 
as  a  life  work  on  account  of  Mr.  McLean’s  strong- 
presentation  of  the  supreme  claims  of  Christ  upon  the 


112 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


lives  of  all  who  profess  to  be  Christians.  Others  who 
had  taken  up  the  ministry  merely  as  a  profession, 
much  as  they  might  have  chosen  law  or  medicine,  came 
to  see  it  as  a  divine  calling  and  definitely  to  commit 
their  lives  to  the  hardest  service  of  some  foreign  field, 
rather  than  to  the  most  attractive  opportunities  that 
home  churches  could  offer. 

It  was  under  the  spell  of  his  influence,  but  probably 
without  any  definite  suggestion  from  him,  that  a  stu¬ 
dents  *  missionary  society  was  organized  in  Bethany 
College  for  the  special  purpose  of  studying  missions. 
When  its  first  offering  was  forwarded  to  headquarters, 
about  1886,  Mr.  McLean  wrote  to  Sumner  T.  Martin, 
who  was  president,  “The  organization  of  that  society 
marks  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Disciples  of 
Christ.  This  is  the  first  money,  so  far  as  I  know,  ever 
contributed  by  any  college  among  us  for  heathen  mis¬ 
sions/ ’  During  his  visit  to  the  college  in  1888,  he  at¬ 
tended  its  regular  meeting  Sunday  afternoon  in  an 
upper  room,  the  hall  of  one  of  the  literary  societies.  E. 
R.  Black  of  Canada,  who  was  away  preaching  that  day, 
had  left  a  suggestion  that  the  society  should  raise  a 
fund  to  support  its  own  missionary  on  the  foreign  field. 
With  the  proposal  was  his  own  pledge  of  $25,  in  spite 
of  the  fact  that  he  was  working  his  way  through  col¬ 
lege.  Other  pledges  were  volunteered  in  rapid  suc¬ 
cession.  Then  Mr.  McLean  arose  and  with  evident 
effort  to  control  his  feelings,  remarked  quietly,  “I  will 
give  one  hundred  dollars.  I  also  belong  to  Bethany.  ’  ’ 
To  avoid  embarrassing  anyone  John  E.  Pounds,  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  society,  asked  the  rest  to  write  on  slips  of 
paper  the  amounts  they  wished  to  give  and  their 
names.  President  Woolery  and  several  professors 
added  their  subscriptions  to  those  of  the  students  and 
made  the  total  $773.  Through  the  fund  started  that 
day,  W.  P.  Bentley,  who  graduated  two  years  later, 


THE  PRINTED  PAGE 


113 


went  to  China  as  the  living  link  of  the  Bethany 
Church.  That  society  was  also  the  beginning  of  the 
Student  Volunteer  Band  of  Bethany  College,  which  has 
not  only  supplied  a  number  of  men  and  women  for 
actual  service  on  the  field,  but  has  given  missionary 
purpose  and  power  to  larger  numbers  of  leaders  at 
home. 

However  diligent,  one  secretary  attempting  to  cover 
the  whole  North  American  continent  could  not  visit 
many  churches  in  a  year;  however  industriously  ap¬ 
plied,  one  pen  could  not  write  many  letters;  therefore 
Mr.  McLean  had  constant  recourse  to  the  columns  of 
the  Christian  Standard  and  The  Christian-Evangelist, 
in  which  both  Isaac  Errett  and  J.  H.  Garrison  warmly 
supported  the  missionary  enterprise  editorially.  In 
addition  he  began  in  1888  to  issue  as  a  quarterly  The 
Missionary  Intelligencer .  In  1889  he  decided  to  pub¬ 
lish  it  monthly,  and  arranged  with  the  Home  Society 
and  the  Board  of  Church  Extension  to  share  in  its 
service  and  expense.  After  1895  each  of  these  boards 
issued  its  own  magazine.  The  Christian  Woman’s 
Board  of  Missions  had  published  the  Missionary  Tid¬ 
ings  since  1882.  The  Christian  Philanthropist  of  the 
National  Benevolent  Association  dated  from  1894. 
All  five  were  combined  in  World  Call ,  January  1,  1919. 

Isaac  Errett  spent  the  first  half  of  1887  in  a  journey 
to  the  Near  East,  including  especially  Palestine.  On 
this  journey  his  horse  threw  him  and  injured  him  so 
seriously  that  he  never  was  able  to  take  up  his  full 
work  again.  After  his  return  he  presided  over  the 
meetings  of  the  executive  committee  from  June  27, 
1887,  until  June  18,  1888.  His  death  occurred  Decem¬ 
ber  19,  1888.  He  had  been  president  of  the  Foreign 
Society  from  its  organization.  He  gave  his  wisdom  to 
its  councils,  his  advocacy  both  in  churches  and  con¬ 
ventions  and  in  the  columns  of  the  Christian  Standard 


114 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


to  its  cause  and  liis  affection  to  its  workers.  The  re¬ 
lationship  between  him  and  the  secretary  was  pecu¬ 
liarly  intimate,  and  this  fellowship  in  service  and  in 
life  exerted  a  profound  influence  upon  the  younger 
man. 

The  next  convention  elected  Charles  Louis  Loos,  a 
lifelong  friend  of  Mr.  Errett  and  a  beloved  teacher  of 
Mr.  McLean,  as  the  second  president  of  the  Foreign 
Society. 

The  first  of  the  ecumenical  conferences  on  foreign 
missions  that  have  been  held  at  intervals  of  about  ten 
years,  met  in  London,  June  9-19,  1888.  The  executive 
committee  sent  Mr.  McLean  as  a  delegate  of  the  For¬ 
eign  Society.  After  the  conference  he  visited  all  but 
one  of  the  English  churches  that  were  receiving  aid 
from  the  treasury  of  the  society.  It  was  characteristic 
of  the  careful  economy  which  he  practiced  that  the  ex¬ 
pense  of  the  trip  amounted  to  only  $250.  The  proba¬ 
bility  is  that  he  expended  much  more  out  of  his  own 
funds. 

By  his  references  to  the  conference  in  his  public  ad¬ 
dresses  and  by  his  efforts  to  circulate  its  two-volume 
report  he  showed  that  he  considered  the  meeting  of 
great  importance.  One  can  easily  imagine  the  thor¬ 
oughness  with  which  he  gave  himself  to  its  delibera¬ 
tions;  his  prompt  attendance  upon  every  meeting;  his 
close  attention  to  every  word  spoken;  his  keen  assess¬ 
ment  of  men  and  of  measures;  his  great  joy  in  the 
unity  and  cooperation  among  the  many  missionary 
societies  and  the  many  churches  represented;  his  large 
satisfaction  in  the  introduction  of  scientific  and  stand¬ 
ardized  methods  in  missionary  service,  through  plac¬ 
ing  the  experience'  of  all  the  missionary  boards  fully  at 
the  disposal  of  every  worker  in  every  field. 

As  the  number  of  missionaries  increased  and  the 
work  developed  in  the  several  fields  of  the  Disciples, 


FOREIGN  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY  PIONEERS 

Above,  W.  T.  Moore,  founder ;  left,  W.  S.  Dickinson,  first  treasurer ; 

right,  Isaac  Errett,  first  president. 


MULTIPLYING  PROBLEMS 


115 


perplexing  problems  were  constantly  arising*.  The 
task  of  securing  funds  and  workers  at  home  was  a 
heavy  one  and  beset  with  many  difficulties.  But  an 
entirely  new  and  even  more  numerous  assortment  of 
perplexities  was  developing  at  the  other  end  of  the 
line.  The  distance  of  the  fields  from  headquarters  and 
the  long  periods  that  must  elapse  between  question 
and  answer  in  either  direction,  the  utter  difference 
between  conditions  and  people  in  the  fields  and  at 
home,  the  changes  that  usually  took  place  in  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  in  their  new  environment  and  at  their  new 
labors;  these  are  examples  of  the  innumerable  prob¬ 
lems  of  missionary  administration  which  were  press¬ 
ing  upon  the  one  employed  officer  of  the  Foreign  Chris¬ 
tian  Missionary  Society.  Even  now,  after  innumer¬ 
able  conferences  and  conventions,  books,  pamphlets 
and  magazines,  the  difficulties  sometimes  seem  insu¬ 
perable.  That  the  work  was  managed  a  third  of  a  cen¬ 
tury  ago  by  this  one  overworked  man  with  so  few 
and  such  unimportant  mistakes  shows  not  only  ex¬ 
traordinary  wisdom  on  his  part  and  that  of  his  ad¬ 
visers  ;  but  a  humble  dependence  upon  divine  guidance 
and  a  ready  acceptance  of  the  lessons  of  experience 
which  diligent  study  was  able  to  gather  from  the 
sparse  published  records  of  the  older  missionary 
societies. 


CHAPTER  IX 


IN  A  STRAIT  BETWIXT  TWO 

PRESIDENT  OP  BETHANY  COLLEGE — HIS  LOVE  OP  BETHANY - LOVETT'S 

ESTIMATE MC  WANE'S  RECOLLECTION — TURNING  THE  TIDE — RESIGNATION  OP 

PRESIDENCY -  OPEN  LETTER  OP  MISSIONARIES — DEMONSTRATION  OP  STUDENTS 

- PAINFUL  DECISION. 

T ^  OB  several  years  Mr.  McLean  had  been  a  trustee 
-*•  of  Bethany  College.  He  had  taken  this  responsi¬ 
bility  seriously,  attended  the  meetings  of  the  trustees 
regularly  and  given  constant  thought  to  the  interests 
of  the  college.  His  fellow  trustees  could  not  have  failed 
to  be  impressed  by  his  conviction  that  the  Christian 
college  is  a  fundamental  factor  in  the  advancement  of 
the  Kingdom  of  God;  nor  could  they  have  failed  to 
note  that  his  devotion  to  his  own  Alma  Mater  was  one 
of  the  supreme  affections  of  liis  life.  They  must  have 
observed  also  his  earnest  interest  in  all  the  problems 
of  college  administration. 

Among  the  students  who  came  to  Bethany  in  the 
fall  of  1872,  when  Mr.  McLean  was  half  through  his 
college  course,  was  a  young  giant  from  Kentucky 
named  W.  H.  Woolery,  who  so  impressed  his  fellow 
students,  his  teachers  and  the  trustees  with  his  ability 
as  a  student  and  his  character  as  a  man  that  after  he 
had  graduated  in  1876  and  preached  six  years,  he  was 
called  back  to  the  college  as  professor  of  Latin.  Five 
years  later  when  President  Pendleton’s  age  and  failing 
strength  compelled  him  to  resign,  Mr.  Woolery  be¬ 
came  the  third  president  of  the  college.  As  a  teacher, 
as  an  executive  and  as  pastor  of  the  Bethany  Church, 


116 


PRESIDENT  OF  BETHANY  COLLEGE  117 


President  Woolery  was  doing  a  notable  work  when 
he  contracted  typhoid  fever  in  the  summer  of  1889  and 
died  after  an  illness  of  only  a  few  days. 

The  trustees  asked  Mr.  McLean  to  take  the  presi¬ 
dency  of  the  college.  He  did  so  to  meet  the  emer¬ 
gency  of  the  hour,  but  did  not  resign  his  secretaryship 
because  he  was  not  fully  satisfied  that  he  should 
change  his  field  of  labor.  It  was  not  a  matter  of  his 
personal  preference,  for  in  later  life  he  let  it  be  known 
that  education  was  his  chosen  field,  and  that  he  had 
been  a  conscript  in  the  missionary  office.  The  question 
that  remained  unsettled  in  his  mind  was  whether  it 
would  be  possible,  at  that  time  and  under  the  circum¬ 
stances  surrounding  the  college,  to  carry  it  forward  to 
what  he  felt  was  unquestionably  its  destiny.  Perhaps 
some  such  consideration  as  this  had  prevented  his  ac¬ 
cepting  the  call  to  a  professorship  the  previous  year. 

The  trustees  of  the  college  were  better  pleased  to 
have  A.  McLean  even  in  a  tentative  way  than  any 
other  man  they  could  secure,  and  the  executive  com¬ 
mittee  of  the  Foreign  Society  was  satisfied  in  like 
manner  to  have  him  continue  as  secretary,  though  his 
duties  as  president  of  the  college  would  keep  him  away 
from  Cincinnati  most  of  the  time.  The  executive 
committee  arranged  with  P.  T.  Kilgour  to  look  after 
the  office  work  of  the  society  in  Mr.  McLean’s  absence. 
Mr.  Kilgour ’s  coming  into  the  office  marked  the  be¬ 
ginning  of  lifelong  service  on  his  part  and  of  a 
devoted  friendship  between  him  and  Mr.  McLean.  He 
was  then  a  medical  student.  After  he  graduated  and 
began  the  practice  of  his  profession  at  College  Hill, 
a  suburb  of  Cincinnati  adjoining  Mt.  Healthy,  he 
became  medical  examiner  of  the  Foreign  Society  and 
continued  to  render  that  service  to  the  end  of  his  life 
in  1918.  Even  when  the  number  of  missionary  candi- 


118 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


dates  to  be  examined  greatly  increased,  Dr.  Ivilgour 
refused  to  accept  any  pay  for  bis  services. 

Mr.  McLean  was  a  lover  of  books  and  of  scholarship, 
a  friend  of  young  people,  a  fervent  believer  in  the 
primacy  of  education  for  the  advancement  of  civili¬ 
zation,  and  especially  a  lover  of  Bethany  College.  For 
many  years,  during  this  period  and  later,  it  was  the 
custom  for  the  alumni,  students  and  friends  of  each 
college  to  have  a  banquet  at  the  Disciples’  annual 
international  convention.  However  exacting  his  cares 
in  the  convention,  and  they  were  always  both  manifold 
and  perplexing,  if  not  exasperating,  Mr.  McLean  never 
missed  the  Bethany  banquet.  His  conscience  and  his 
habit  of  punctuality  would  not  allow  him  to  remain 
after  the  opening  of  the  evening  meeting  of  the  con¬ 
vention,  so  the  toastmaster  always  called  upon  him 
early  in  the  banquet.  These  brief  addresses  were 
always  heart-revealing.  In  one  of  them  he  referred  to 
Queen  Elizabeth’s  declaration  that  if  her  heart  were 
opened  “Calais”  would  be  found  written  in  its  center, 
and  declared  that  if  his  own  heart  were  opened, 
“Bethany”  would  be  found.  Only  occasionally  did  he 
drop  into  the  after-dinner  mode  and  speak  in  lighter 
vein.  Usually  he  recalled  something  of  moment  in 
the  history  of  the  college  and  its  contribution  toward 
the  advancement  of  the  church  of  Christ  and  of  the  na¬ 
tion.  He  would  call  the  roll  of  college  presidents  and 
professors,  preachers  and  missionaries  who  had  re¬ 
ceived  both  their  training  and  tlieir  inspiration  in 
Bethany  College,  and  always  he  would  indicate  that 
its  greatest  days  were  in  the  future  and  not  in  the 
past. 

With  such  interest  in  education,  with  such  personal 
preference  for  teaching  above  all  other  callings,  and 
with  such  an  affection  for  Bethany  in  particular,  he 
gave  himself  with  unbounded  enthusiasm  to  his  duties 


LOVE  OF  BETHANY 


119 


as  president  of  the  college.  Chief  among  these  duties 
he  accounted  planting  the  missionary  purpose  in  the 
hearts  of  the  students.  There  was  no  conflict  between 
the  two  offices  he  held,  excepting  their  drafts  upon  his 
time  and  strength.  As  a  missionary  leader  he  was  al¬ 
ways  an  educator ;  he  promoted  missions  by  educating 
the  people.  As  an  educator  he  was  always  a  mission¬ 
ary  propagandist;  he  developed  his  students  by  stir¬ 
ring  their  consciences,  quickening  their  imaginations 
and  crystallizing  their  life  purposes.  Among  the 
graduates  of  this  brief  presidency  who  have  been 
notably  successful  there  are  not  only  a  number  of 
ministers  and  missionaries,  but  leaders  in  other  call¬ 
ings  also. 

Edgar  Odell  Lovett,  first  president  of  the  Rice  In¬ 
stitute,  Houston,  Texas,  speaks  as  an  authority  both 
from  personal  acquaintance  and  life  occupation  when 
he  says  of  Mr.  McLean’s  presidency: 

For  so  heart-breaking  a  job  he  had  a  clergyman’s  conse¬ 
cration,  the  executive  ability  of  his  race,  intense  human  sym¬ 
pathy  and  genuine  scholarly  interests  fed  by  a  rather  wide 
range  of  reading.  He  was  always  at  work  and  as  restless  as 
a  caged  lion.  He  occupied  rooms  in  the  old  college  building, 
and  his  light  was  the  last  one  to  go  out  on  the  campus  or  in 
the  village.  Every  morning  he  conducted  a  compulsory 
chapel  service,  himself  calling  the  roll  of  students  and  keep¬ 
ing  a  daily  record  of  their  attendance.  He  preached  occa¬ 
sionally  in  the  village  church,  but  no  matter  what  his  text, 
after  a  few  introductory  paragraphs  the  sermon  was  always 
a  missionary  sermon.  He  had  mannerisms,  at  times  exasper¬ 
ating,  beginning  sermons  in  an  almost  inaudible  monotone 
that  strained  every  power  of  attention  in  his  auditors,  and 
later  rising  to  swift,  shrill,  piercing  shrieks  that  were  almost 
inarticulate.  But  through  it  all  an  earnestness  and  sincerity 
that  brought  out  all  of  us,  even  the  most  indifferent  of  us, 
when  it  was  known  in  advance  that  McLean  himself  was  to 
conduct  the  service. 

His  habits  were  the  simplest ;  the  appointments  of  his  quar¬ 
ters  austerely  stoical, — a  bare  table,  a  chair  or  two  and  a  few 


120 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


books.  It  was  the  time  when  John  R.  Mott  was  starting  out 
from  Cornell  and  Robert  E.  Speer  from  Princeton,  to  set 
going  the  world-wide  Student  Volunteer  Movement.  As  trav¬ 
eling  secretary  for  one  year  Speer  came  over  to  Bethany.  The 
public  inn  of  the  village  was  not  of  the  best,  so  McLean,  presi¬ 
dent  of  the  college,  gave  up  his  bed  to  the  recent  graduate, 
and  himself  slept  on  a  cot  in  an  adjoining  chamber.  Such 
incidents  as  this  brought  him  our  profound  respect. 

He  was  reserved  but  always  approachable.  The  very  idio¬ 
syncrasies  of  his  individuality  endeared  him  to  us — the  awful 
grimaces  of  his  face  in  an  argument,  the  staccato,  spasmodic 
laugh  that  somehow  never  quite  succeeded  in  getting  itself 
out,  the  sudden  snapping  of  the  jaws  with  audible  grinding 
of  the  molars,  and  then  the  light  of  his  face  that  was  at  times 
the  very  light  of  heaven,  and  the  searching  sincerity  of  steel 
gray  eyes  that  left  nothing  hid  in  him  or  you. 

Of  wit  he  had  a  plenty,  but  there  was  no  sting  in  the  wit, 
and  his  humor  was  always  kindly.  Student  serenades  were 
never  complete  until  they  had  stopped  under  his  window,  and 
he  always  put  a  light  in  the  window.  He  was  not  a  man  of 
means,  but  out  of  his  slender  private  purse  there  was  always 
something  for  needy  students,  and  he  himself  paid  small  col¬ 
lege  bills  when  the  college  had  no  money  to  pay.  He  set 
many  enterprises  going,  multiplying  the  undergraduate  ac¬ 
tivities,  building  a  new  hall,  and  celebrating  the  semi-centen¬ 
nial  of  the  college. 

In  the  background  of  it  all  were  the  reserves  of  strength 
in  his  natural  resources — rugged  native  physical  health,  pre¬ 
served  by  temperate  habits  of  living  and  spent  only  in  hard 
work;  a  liberal  classical  education  continued  by  reading 
throughout  his  life ;  a  profound  faith  fed  from  the  fires  of  his 
own  experience;  first-rate  business  ability;  and  last  but  not 
least,  the  constructive  imagination  of  the  strategist.  More¬ 
over,  he  was  a  shrewd  judge  of  men  and  had  confidence  in 
them,  and  while  not  suffering  fools  gladly  in  the  wrong  place, 
he  found  place  and  service  for  such  in  the  providence  of 
heaven.  But  I  believe,  though  in  this  there  may  be  more  of 
personal  impression  than  of  faithful  picture,  that  his  great¬ 
est  source  of  strength  was  in  a  mystical  communion  with  his 
Maker,  for  however  tender  and  loyal  in  all  personal  associa¬ 
tions,  however  humanly  interested  in  all  conditions  of  men, 
with  him,  as  with  all  great  moral  leaders  from  his  Master 


LOVETT  AND  McWANE  RECALL  121 


downwards,  his  soul  was  ‘ 1  like  a  star,  and  dwelt  apart.  ’  ’  And 
in  that  soul,  to  apply  a  fine  passage  from  Plotinus,  “love, 
beauty,  joy  and  worship  were  forever  building,  unbuilding 
and  rebuilding.” 

James  R.  Me  Wane,  president  of  the  American  Cast 
Iron  Pipe  Company,  Birmingham,  Alabama,  relates  an 
incident  and  makes  an  observation  that  are  altogether 
typical. 

I  was  a  student  at  Bethany  College  from  1889  to  1891,  the 
two  years  that  Brother  McLean  was  president  of  the  institu¬ 
tion,  and  it  has  always  been  a  matter  of  pride  that  my  di¬ 
ploma,  dated  June  18,  1891,  bore  his  signature.  The  ac¬ 
quaintance  formed  in  the  relationship  of  teacher  and  student 
ripened  with  the  passing  years,  and  the  personal  interest  in 
me  and  mine,  which  began  in  college,  continued  throughout 
his  life. 

I  recall  one  personal  incident  at  Bethany  which  was  a  fine 
index  to  his  character,  and  which  made  a  lasting  impression 
on  me.  I  had  gone  to  Bethany  under  financial  difficulties, 
having  worked  very  hard  the  preceding  year  for  the  money 
with  which  to  go.  The  year  out  of  college  had  resulted  in  my 
being  rather  rusty,  and  I  was  having  a  hard  time  finding 
myself  in  the  first  few  months  of  the  school  year — in  fact 
I  was  somewhat  discouraged.  One  day  as  President  McLean’s 
class  in  psychology  was  dismissed  I  happened  to  be  the  last 
one  to  leave  the  room.  He  was  standing  near  the  door,  and 
as  I  passed  him  he  put  his  arm  around  my  shoulder  and  said 
in  his  direct,  abrupt  way,  “I  have  been  watching  you  and 
believe  you  have  the  making  of  a  useful  man,”  or  words  to 
that  effect.  I  do  not  remember  the  exact  words,  but  I  shall 
never  forget  the  spirit  in  which  they  were  uttered,  and  the 
effect  on  me.  They  were  “kind  words  fitly  spoken,”  and 
they  have  always  been  and  will  always  be  to  me  “like  apples 
of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver.  ’  ’  It  was  the  human  touch. 

‘  ‘  But  0 !  for  the  touch  of  a  vanished  hand, 

And  the  sound  of  a  voice  that  is  still. ’  ’ 

Most  men  who  preach  and  pray  much  make  frequent  use  of 
certain  texts  or  expressions,  and  these  are  usually  indicative 
of  the  trend  of  their  thinking.  This  was  particularly  true 
of  A.  McLean.  The  words  which  stand  out  in  my  memory 


122 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


now  as  I  think  of  him  are  these,  “Spend  and  be  spent.’ *  He 
seldom  prayed  without  using  them.  He  taught  by  precept 
and  example  that  the  world  cannot  be  saved  by  people  who 
are  simply  willing  to  spend.  They  must  be  spent.  Another 
thing  that  he  prayed  for  frequently  was  that  we  might  learn 
*  *  how  to  abound  and  how  to  be  abased.  ’  ’ 

My  mind  goes  back  more  than  thirty  years  to  “Dear  Old 
Bethany.’’  We  are  marching  on  the  old  corridor  in  the  early 
morning.  The  chapel  bell  rings  and  we  noisily  troop  into 
the  chapel,  then  roll  call  and  the  morning  devotions.  Presi¬ 
dent  McLean  is  leading.  On  the  rostrum  behind  him  are  the 
professors,  Trible,  Woolery,  (L.  C.),  Dowling,  Blanpied, 
Schmiedel  and  Miss  Cammie  (Pendleton).  Among  the  stu¬ 
dents  in  front  of  him  are  Jenkins,  Lovett,  Miller,  Muckley, 
Harp,  Hundley,  Hoover,  Wilfley,  Kreidler,  Perry,  and  many 
others  who  have  fulfilled  the  prophecy  of  youth  and  “made 
good.”  A  Psalm  is  read  and  President  McLean  says,  “Let 
us  pray.”  In  the  solemn  hush,  while  we  all  stood  with 
bowed  heads,  I  can  hear  again  the  earnest  petition  that  we 
may  learn  both  “how  to  abound  and  how  to  be  abased,”  and 
that,  “we  may  spend  and  be  spent  in  His  service.” 

Even  $10,000  a  year,  which  constituted  the  college’s 
annual  budget  in  that  period,  was  beyond  its  current 
resources.  The  endowment  fund  had  amounted  in  1872 
to  $80,000,  but  year  after  year  the  trustees  had  bor¬ 
rowed  larger  or  smaller  amounts  from  it  for  current 
expenses  until  it  was  exhausted.  In  1882  Mr.  McLean 
had  moved  to  amend  the  charter  by  adding,  “Pro¬ 
vided,  however,  that  no  funds  donated  for  the  endow¬ 
ment  of  the  college  shall  be  used  for  any  other  pur¬ 
pose  whatever.”  To  doubly  accomplish  this  end,  M. 
M.  Cochran  secured  the  provision,  a  little  later,  that  all 
funds  contributed  for  endowment  should  be  deposited 
with  approved  trust  companies,  only  the  interest  to 
be  paid  to  the  trustees  of  the  college  year  after  year, 
thus  removing  forever  the  temptation  to  borrow  per¬ 
manent  funds  for  current  outlay. 

J.  M.  Trible,  a  graduate  of  1875  and  a  fellow  student 
of  Mr.  McLean,  had  distinguished  himself  as  a  preacher 


TURNING  THE  TIDE 


123 


and  editor.  He  was  called  to  the  vice-presidency  of 
the  college  and  to  the  chair  of  New  Testament  litera¬ 
ture  at  the  beginning  of  Mr.  McLean’s  presidency. 
The  trustees  undertook  to  secure  $30,000  for  the  endow¬ 
ment  of  this  chair,  thus  registering  a  definite  purpose 
of  enlargement  and  a  reversal  of  the  process  of  deple¬ 
tion  of  its  resources  which  the  college  had  been  suffer¬ 
ing  for  several  years. 

When  Mr.  McLean  entered  upon  the  presidency  it 
was  with  the  express  purpose  of  greatly  accelerating 
the  advance  on  which  the  trustees  had  agreed.  His 
first  year  was  marked  by  two  large  contributions.  Dr. 
I.  M.  Ridge  of  Kansas  City  gave  sufficient  to  pay  the 
salary  of  Professor  Alexandra  Campbellina  Pendleton, 
the  beloved  “Miss  Cammie,”  whose  presence  was  then 
the  finest  influence  in  the  college  of  her  father  and 
grandfather,  and  whose  devotion  was  later  one  of  the 
chief  factors  in  saving  the  institution’s  life.  Thomas 
W.  Phillips  of  New  Castle,  Pennsylvania,  provided  the 
money  to  erect  Phillips  Hall,  a  dormitory  for  young 
women.  Prior  to  this  time  all  the  students  had  been 
living  in  such  rooms  as  they  could  find  in  the  village. 
The  alumni  and  friends  of  the  college  came  together 
in  unusual  number  for  the  Jubilee  commencement  of 
1891.  There  was  general  confidence  that  a  new  era 
was  opening. 

Mr.  McLean,  however,  was  not  satisfied  with  the 
progress  made  or  with  the  prospects.  He  saw  the 
necessity  for  greatly  enlarging  the  teaching  staff,  in¬ 
creasing  the  salaries  paid  and  improving  the  college 
equipment  in  buildings,  library  and  apparatus.  He 
was  disappointed  that  the  friends  of  the  college  had 
failed  to  provide  the  funds  necessary  for  such  advance¬ 
ment  and  was  unwilling  to  be  responsible  for  continu¬ 
ing  on  the  basis  of  that  time.  He  therefore  presented 
his  resignation.  The  trustees  being  unable  to  dissuade 


124 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


him,  finally  yielded  to  his  wish  and  asked  Vice-Presi¬ 
dent  Trible  to  act  as  president  until  the  vacancy  could 
be  filled.  Professor  Trible  had  refused  to  be  made 
president. 

Just  before  college  opened  in  the  fall,  worn  down  by 
his  labors  in  behalf  of  the  school,  Professor  Trible 
contracted  typhoid  fever,  the  same  disease  which  had 
taken  away  President  Woolery  two  years  before,  and 
died  September  24,  1891,  after  four  weeks  of  illness. 
Mr.  McLean  returned  immediately  to  serve  as  presi¬ 
dent  for  the  time  being.  The  trustees  strongly  urged 
him  to  reconsider  his  decision  of  the  preceding  spring 
and  remain  permanently  as  president.  Emphasizing 
the  earnestness  of  their  entreaty,  they  personally  sub¬ 
scribed  sufficient  to  pay  his  salary  and  thus  relieve  the 
general  fund  of  that  charge.  After  thorough  consider¬ 
ation  he  determined  to  stand  by  his  former  decision, 
and  his  friend  Hugh  McDiarmid,  then  editor  of  the 
Christian  Standard ,  accepted  the  presidency. 

The  promptness  with  which  Mr.  McLean  returned  to 
the  college  on  President  Trible ’s  death  and  the  master¬ 
ly  way  in  which  he  held  the  school  together  and  in¬ 
spired  everyone  with  confidence  as  to  its  future,  with 
the  personal  sacrifice  which  he  cheerfully  made  in  so 
doing,  seem  to  have  given  the  trustees  a  new  appre¬ 
ciation  of  the  greatness  of  the  man.  They  not  only 
exerted  themselves  to  what  they  felt  was  the  utmost 
in  their  effort  to  retain  his  leadership,  but  when  he 
reluctantly  decided  that  he  could  not  stay,  spread  on 
their  minutes  a  most  emphatic  appreciation  of  what  he 
had  done  for  the  college.  Their  action  instanced  ‘ 4  con¬ 
stant  enlargement  in  the  efficiency  and  scope  of  the 
Biblical  work,  improvement  in  the  home  care  and 
training  of  the  students,  and  steady  growth  in  public 
confidence  and  patronage.” 

All  the  while  Mr.  McLean  was  serving  as  president 


, 


»  « 

. 


OPEN  LETTER  OF  MISSIONARIES  125 


of  Bethany  College,  he  was  “in  a  strait  betwixt  two.” 
The  missionary  society  and  the  missionaries  were  en¬ 
treating  him  to  return  to  full  service,  as  indicated  in 
the  following  open  letter. 

To  President  A.  McLean, 

Corresponding  Secretary  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  So¬ 
ciety, 

Dear  Brother : 

The  deepening  tide  of  interest  in  foreign  missions  so  per¬ 
ceptible  among  the  Disciples  is  a  source  of  great  satisfaction 
to  us  who  have  given  our  lives  to  this  work.  The  possibili¬ 
ties  of  growth  and  of  consecration  of  men  and  means  by  our 
people  are  so  great  that  we  feel  that  a  vigorous  prosecution 
of  the  work  is  all  that  is  necessary  in  order  that  we  may 
surprise  ourselves  in  the  results  attained.  We  therefore  come 
praying  that  you  will  devote  your  entire  time  and  talents  to 
this  great  work.  By  the  brotherhood  at  home  and  by  the 
missionaries  abroad  you  would  be  the  unanimous  choice  as 
corresponding  secretary  of  our  foreign  work.  This  enviable 
position  in  the  esteem  of  your  brethren  you  have  gained  by 
your  unequalled  devotion  and  self -forgetting  sacrifices  which 
have  contributed  so  materially  to  the  present  advance  in  for¬ 
eign  missions.  We  are  not  unmindful  of  the  debt  we  owe  to 
Bethany  College,  nor  of  the  claim  Bethany  may  have  for  the 
services  of  one  of  her  preeminent  sons,  but  the  voice  of  the 
brotherhood  and  the  mute  pleadings  of  the  heathen  world, 
which  we  would  voice,  will  come  to  Bethany  constraining  her, 
by  love,  gracefully  to  give  her  choicest  once  more,  and  we 
pray  that  these  pleadings  may  come  to  you  as  the  voice  of 
duty  which  is  the  voice  of  Gud. 


Albert  F.  H.  Saw 
William  Remfry  Hunt 
W.  P.  Bentley 
Linnie  M.  Bentley 
Rose  Sickler 
W.  E.  Macklin 
Dorothy  DeLany  Macklin 
Charles  E.  Molland 
James  Ware 


George  T.  Smith 
Candace  Lhamon  Smith 
Calla  J.  Harrison 
Kate  V.  Johnson 
Charles  E.  Garst 
Laura  DeLany  Garst 
E.  T.  Williams 
Carrie  Loos  Williams 
E.  P.  Hearnden 
Thomas  J.  Arnold 


126 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


He  could  resist  the  arguments  and  entreaties  of  the 
executive  committee  much  better  than  this  special 
appeal  of  the  missionaries,  all  of  whom  were  in  a  pecu¬ 
liar  way  his  comrades  in  the  service  and  his  represent¬ 
atives  on  the  field.  He  had  enlisted  them  for  service 
in  the  distant  lands  where  they  were  making  their 
homes  and  spending  their  lives.  To  him  they  looked 
as  their  representative  among  the  churches  in  the 
homeland.  They  graciously  avoided  laying  any  moral 
responsibility  upon  him  to  continue  in  the  relation  that 
must  have  had  much  to  do  with  their  taking  up  the 
foreign  service,  but  he  could  not  fail  to  feel  a  definite 
obligation  to  them. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  was  not  merely  the  trustees 
and  faculty  of  Bethany  College  who  were  urging  him 
to  continue  in  the  presidency  and  to  lay  aside  every¬ 
thing  else  that  he  might  give  himself  wholly  to  it. 
The  strongest  appeal  came  from  the  students.  It  has 
been  given  to  few  men  in  the  history  of  American  edu¬ 
cation  to  lay  such  powerful  hold  upon  the  affections 
of  student  groups  as  did  Archibald  McLean.  We  have 
noticed  the  profound  influence  that  he  exerted  in 
the  college  on  occasional  visits  when  he  preached  in 
the  college  church  and  delivered  a  few  missionary  ad¬ 
dresses  in  the  chapel.  But  when  he  became  president 
and  made  his  home  in  the  college  building,  ate  with  a 
group  at  Pendleton  Heights,  met  the  entire  student 
body  morning  after  morning  in  the  chapel  services, 
taught  the  upper  classmen  subjects  that  gave  his  soul 
a  chance  to  speak — their  admiration  for  him  flowered 
into  reverence  and  their  respect  ripened  into  affection 
and  even  devotion.  He  was  their  captain,  they  would 
follow  wherever  he  led;  he  was  their  teacher,  they 
would  listen  whenever  he  spoke;  he  was  their  father, 
they  loved  even  his  angularities  and  peculiarities. 


A  PAINFUL  DECISION 


127 


When  the  national  missionary  convention  met  in 
the  old  First  Church,  Allegheny,  now  North  Side, 
Pittsburgh,  in  October,  1891,  a  large  deputation 
of  the  students  took  advantage  of  its  proximity 
and  went  up  to  the  convention  with  a  two-fold 
purpose:  first,  to  impress  upon  the  trustees  of 
the  college  the  importance  of  going  beyond  any¬ 
thing  which  they  had  considered  possible  in  order 
to  retain  Mr.  McLean  as  president  of  the  col¬ 
lege  ;  second,  to  lay  upon  his  heart  what  they  felt  were 
the  paramount  claims  of  the  college  to  his  services. 
Not  only  in  the  convention,  but  in  the  weeks  that  fol¬ 
lowed,  his  soul  was  a  battle  ground  where  these  con¬ 
flicting  claims  waged  unrelenting  warfare.  A  de¬ 
cision  either  way  would  have  left  his  heart  aching  for 
the  other  work,  but  when  he  felt  compelled  to  leave  the 
college,  he  was  renouncing  not  only  the  immediate  and 
manifold  claims  of  his  Alma  Mater,  but  was  definitely 
and  permanently  turning  away  from  the  educational 
field  in  which  he  had  wanted  to  spend  his  life.  For 
any  man  such  a  parting  of  the  ways  would  have  been 
heartbreaking;  for  a  man  of  Mr.  McLean’s  intense 
affections  it  was  a  real  tragedy.  The  scar  of  the  hurt 
remained  upon  his  heart  to  the  end  of  his  life.  The 
effect  of  it,  as  in  every  tragedy  where  it  is  the  will  of 
God  rather  than  the  personal  preference  of  the  indi¬ 
vidual  that  triumphs,  was  the  enrichment  of  his  soul 
and  the  strengthening  of  his  hand  in  the  work  to  which 
he  gave  himself  completely  and  for  life. 

It  was  several  years  after  his  final  decision  before 
he  could  bear  the  heart-strain  of  his  customary  annual 
visit  to  Bethany  College.  When  finally  he  accepted  an 
invitation  to  return,  the  students  took  a  holiday,  hired 
all  the  horses  of  the  village  and  surrounding  farms 
and  went  down  the  pike  as  a  mounted  escort  to  meet 


128 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


him  and  bring  him  home.  The  demonstration  shocked 
and  embarrassed  him.  He  would  have  prevented  or 
escaped  it,  if  it  had  been  possible.  But  he  understood 
that  the  students  were  simply  trying  to  declare  that 
Bethany  loved  him  with  surpassing  affection,  honored 
him  above  all  her  other  sons  and  knew  that,  not  in 
anger  but  in  love,  he  had  kept  away  so  long. 


CHAPTER  X 


“THIS  ONE  THING  I  DO” 


DISTRESS  OVER  SLOWNESS  OF  SOCIETY  AND  COLLEGE — PATIENCE  WITH 
MEN  LESS  CONSECRATED  THAN  HE — DEVELOPING  THE  HOME  BASE — FUR¬ 
LOUGHS  OF  MISSIONARIES — FIRST  BOOK - TEN  THOUSAND  IDEAS,  ONE  TASK. 


ONG  and  severe  as  was  the  conflict  in  Mr. 


-Lrf  McLean’s  mind  between  the  two  vital  forms  of 
Christian  service  in  which  he  had  been  engaged  for 
two  and  a  half  years,  when  the  decision  was  made  it 
was  final.  A  divided  mind  was  contrary  to  his  nature. 
Not  indecision  in  his  own  mind  but  uncertainty  as  to 
the  attitude  of  others  had  made  him  hold  the  question 
open  so  long.  He  had  not  been  satisfied  with  what 
seemed  to  him  the  timid  program  of  the  Foreign  Soci¬ 
ety.  On  pages  64-65  of  his  History  of  the  Foreign 
Christian  Missionary  Society  he  describes  the  board’s 
cautious  policy.  “One  thing  was  settled,  the  society 
would  not  go  in  debt.  The  board  would  undertake  no 
work  requiring  any  expenditure  beyond  the  cash  in 
hand  and  in  the  bank.  The  board  said  that  any  argu¬ 
ment  upholding  the  employment  of  credit  for  mission¬ 
ary  transactions  was  spurious  and  dangerous.  The 
board  would  walk  by  sight  and  not  by  faith.  It  would 
not  launch  out  into  the  deep,  but  would  timidly  hug 
the  shore.” 

But  while  he  found  the  trustees  of  Bethany  College 
willing  to  borrow,  they  did  not  seem  to  him  as  aggres¬ 
sive  as  they  should  have  been  in  giving  and  securing 
funds  to  meet  their  debts  and  to  seize  the  larger  op¬ 
portunities  that  opened  before  them.  His  decision 


129 


130 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


finally  went  the  way  it  did  because  of  a  complex  of 
factors  that  seemed  to  shut  him  up  to  that  course  as 
the  divine  will  for  his  life.  He  was  convinced  that 
with  the  society  there  was  a  better  chance  for  enlarge¬ 
ment  and  progress  than  with  the  college;  there  were 
many  educators  in  the  brotherhood  but  no  other  avail¬ 
able  advocate  of  missions;  the  missionary  work  had 
developed  under  his  hand  and  was  peculiarly  his  enter¬ 
prise  ;  and  beyond  all  the  reasons  that  he  could  formu¬ 
late  was  the  conviction,  “Hereunto  am  I  called. ” 

We  can  readily  understand  Mr.  McLean’s  distress 
over  the  slowness  both  of  the  college  and  the  society. 
Why  should  anyone  hesitate  to  go  all  the  way  for 
God?  There  were  no  reservations  in  his  own  conse¬ 
cration.  He  literally  sought  first  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
He  did  not  think  of  it  as  at  all  extraordinary  that  he 
should  decide  every  minor  question  in  the  light  of  the 
supreme  issue ;  that  he  should  not  buy  a  hat  or  a  pair 
of  shoes  unless  he  felt  that  it  was  for  the  advancement 
of  the  Kingdom  of  God ;  that  the  question  as  to  whether 
he  should  take  an  upper  or  a  lower  berth  in  a  sleep¬ 
ing  car  or  spend  the  night  in  a  day  coach  should  be 
decided  by  the  same  ultimate  criterion.  In  all  these 
things  he  was  modest  to  the  last  degree  of  simplicity. 
He  did  not  count  himself  better  than  others  and  could 
not  understand  why  they  should  so  largely  refuse  to 
give  practical  expression  to  their  consecration. 

At  the  same  time  he  had  a  wonderful  faculty  for 
putting  himself  in  the  place  of  another.  This  appeared 
continually,  as  for  instance  in  his  address  on  The 
Preacher's  Wife.  He  recognized  the  difference  be¬ 
tween  his  own  circumstances  and  those  of  others ;  that 
some  men  needed  capital  with  which  to  conduct  their 
business,  which  he  did  not  require;  that  others  had 
families  for  whom  they  must  provide,  while  he  was 
alone.  But  he  knew  also  that  the  Lord’s  work,  in 


PATIENCE  WITH  OTHERS 


131 


which  every  Christian  is  a  partner,  needs  capital  and 
that  the  little  ones  of  God  must  he  reckoned  in  a  Chris¬ 
tian’s  household  as  well  as  his  own  flesh  and  blood. 
He  knew  with  demonstrated  certainty  the  cankering 
power  of  wealth  upon  the  soul,  not  only  of  him  who 
possesses  it  but  also  of  him  who  strives  to  get  it,  and 
he  knew  that  the  only  antidote  for  the  poison  of  mam¬ 
mon  is  the  grace  of  giving. 

Clearly  as  Mr.  McLean  discerned  all  these  things 
and  accurately  as  he  measured  the  actions  of  men  and 
the  motives  that  lay  back  of  them,  he  was  not  intoler¬ 
ant  of  either  the  slowness  or  the  parsimony  of  his  fel¬ 
low  Christians.  Again  and  again  his  heart  was  sad¬ 
dened  by  his  sense  of  what  his  friends  were  losing  by 
not  throwing  themselves  and  their  possessions  more 
unreservedly  into  the  service  of  God.  But  despite  all 
the  fervor  of  his  Highland  nature  and  his  uncompro¬ 
mising  loyalty,  he  was  wonderfully  patient  and  tol- 
ei*ant.  Again  and  again  he  singled  out  young  men  of 
especial  promise  during  their  college  days  and  enlisted 
them  for  missionary  service,  but  the  majority  of  these 
volunteers  never  reached  the  field.  Most  of  those  who 
did  not  go  felt  that  they  were  kept  at  home  by  circum¬ 
stances  over  which  they  had  no  control.  Frequently 
it  must  have  seemed  otherwise  to  Mr.  McLean,  but 
however  great  his  disappointment  might  be,  his  per¬ 
sonal  friendship  continued  and  even  grew  stronger. 

As  he  returned  to  full-time  service  with  the  Foreign 
Society  he  determined  that  the  work  must  be  enlarged 
greatly.  He  convinced  the  executive  committee  that 
such  enlargement  required  not  only  additional  help  in 
the  office  and  a  larger  use  of  printed  matter  but  also 
another  man  in  the  field.  November  21,  1891,  this 
minute  appears  on  the  records :  “On  motion,  the  cor¬ 
responding  secretary  was  instructed  to  present  at  the 
next  meeting  of  this  executive  committee  a  suitable 


132 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


man  as  assistant  secretary  to  look  after  the  financial 
features  of  the  work  of  this  executive  committee.” 
To  find  the  man  was  not  so  easy  as  to  decide  that  he 
was  needed,  and  even  after  he  was  found  there  was 
the  further  difficulty  of  convincing  him  that  he  ought 
to  undertake  the  work.  Three  were  called  before  one 
was  chosen.  While  the  delay  thus  caused  must  have 
been  distressing,  the  outcome  was  undoubtedly  provi¬ 
dential.  May  19, 1893,  the  executive  committee  elected 
F.  M.  Rains  with  the  title  of  associate  secretary. 
From  1897  to  1899  he  was  called  treasurer,  and  there¬ 
after  secretary,  but  whatever  his  title  his  work  was 
the  same. 

The  national  financial  crisis  the  year  of  Mr.  Rains’ 
employment  had  reduced  the  receipts  to  $58,355.01 
from  $70,320.84  of  the  preceding  year.  But  with  the 
two  engaged  in  the  work  and  in  spite  of  the  continued 
financial  stringency  the  figures  advanced  to  $73,258.16 
in  1894,  to  $83,514.16  in  1895,  and  to  $93,867.71  in  1896. 
The  depression  having  passed,  the  increase  from  year 
to  year  was  in  larger  amounts,  and  never  stopped  for 
more  than  one  year  at  a  time.  Such  a  year  was  always 
followed  by  an  extra  large  advance  the  next  year, 
which  more  than  made  good  the  backset. 

For  ten  years  after  the  organization  of  the  Foreign 
Society  its  officers  did  all  their  work  in  their  own 
homes;  so  modest  were  its  beginnings.  When  Mr. 
McLean  began  to  devote  all  of  his  time  to  the  society 
in  1885  he  rented  an  office  in  the  Johnson  Building,  on 
Fifth  Street  between  Walnut  and  Vine,  fronting  on 
Fountain  Square.  In  the  same  building  William  How¬ 
ard  Taft  had  his  law  offices  at  that  time.  He  and  Mr. 
McLean  soon  became  good  friends.  In  May,  1892,  Mr. 
McLean  moved  to  the  new  Y.  M.  C.  A.  building,  on  the 
northwest  corner  of  Seventh  and  Walnut  Streets, 
where  he  secured  a  room  at  $30  per  month.  The  mov- 


DEVELOPING  THE  HOME  BASE 


133 


ing  expense  amounted  to  $31;  there  was  not  much  to 
move.  At  this  time  he  purchased  the  society’s  first 
typewriter,  along  with  other  equipment  for  the  office. 
He  also  employed  his  first  stenographer  in  1892. 

He  was  carefully  developing  the  home  base  as  well 
as  the  mission  fields.  The  first  Sunday  in  March  was 
winning  recognition  as  foreign  missions  day  in  the 
churches,  1,355  of  which  made  offerings  in  1892  for  the 
work  of  the  Foreign  Society.  Beginning  in  1881  an 
increasing  number  of  Sunday  schools  had  observed  the 
first  Sunday  in  June  as  Children’s  Day.  In  1891  the 
Children’s  Day  offerings  aggregated  $21,411.25,  an 
increase  of  $3,615.31  over  the  preceding  year.  In  the 
annual  report  Mr.  McLean  said,  “No  report  of  the 
work  at  home  is  more  encouraging  than  this.”  The 
same  year  the  churches  gave  $18,000.63,  a  gain  of 
nearly  five  thousand  dollars  over  1890. 

Missionaries  were  now  (1892)  well  established  in 
three  non-Christian  mission  fields.  In  the  Central 
Provinces  of  India  there  were  ten  representatives  of 
the  Foreign  Society  at  Harda,  three  at  Bilaspur  and 
three  at  Mungeli.  In  Tokyo,  Japan,  there  were  six. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  C.  E.  Garst,  regularly  stationed  at  Akita, 
Japan,  were  at  home  on  furlough.  In  China,  thirteen 
were  stationed  at  Nanking,  two  at  Wuhu  and  four  at 
Shanghai.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  F.  E.  Meigs  of  the  Nanking 
station,  were  in  America.  There  were  three  mission¬ 
aries  and  eleven  helpers  in  Turkey,  two  in  Denmark, 
four  helpers  in  Norway,  and  six  missionaries  and  one 
helper  in  England.  The  total  pay  roll  at  this  time  was 
$5,922.35  per  month. 

In  the  annual  report  of  1892  Mr.  McLean  made  this 
statement  regarding  furloughs  for  the  missionaries : 

The  rule  in  all  missionary  societies  is  to  grant  the  workers 
in  the  field  a  furlough  once  in  seven  or  eight  years.  They 
live  longer  and  do  better  work  for  being  allowed  to  come  to 


134 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


the  surface,  like  pearl  divers,  to  breathe.  Engaged  in  a 
perpetual  conflict  with  dirt  and  disease,  with  ignorance  and 
superstition,  living  in  the  awful  atmosphere  of  heathenism, 
they  perceive  that  virtue  goes  out  of  them.  After  an  absence 
of  seven  or  eight  years,  a  visit  home  is  like  being  caught  up 
to  a  third  heaven,  and  hearing  unspeakable  things;  they  are 
refreshed  and  invigorated  in  body  and  mind  and  prepared 
for  the  hardships  and  trials  awaiting  them.  The  churches 
derive  as  much  benefit  as  the  missionaries.  As  they  rehearse 
all  that  the  Lord  has  done  with  them  and  for  them,  as  they 
tell  of  the  great  and  effectual  doors  which  he  has  opened, 
as  they  set  forth  the  infinite  need  and  the  infinitesimal  sup¬ 
ply,  sluggish  consciences  are  aroused  and  cold  and  selfish 
hearts  are  warmed  and  opened,  and  pour  forth  a  generous 
store,  like  Horeb’s  rock  beneath  the  prophet’s  hand.  The 
report  of  a  man  who  has  gauged  the  misery  and  the  need  of 
the  heathen  world,  and  speaks  what  he  knows,  and  testifies 
what  he  has  seen,  interests  and  enlists  the  people  as  no  sec¬ 
ondhand  report  can.  The  work  among  the  churches  by  our 
missionaries  on  furlough  has  been  of  inestimable  value.  The 
fruit  from  seed  sown  by  them  will,  in  after  years,  shake  like 
Lebanon. 

Mr.  McLean  personally  prized  these  furlough  peri¬ 
ods  of  the  missionaries  as  they  gave  him  a  chance  to 
talk  with  the  missionaries  face  to  face  about  the  in¬ 
numerable  problems  of  each  of  the  fields,  and  to  know 
intimately  the  men  and  women  with  whom  he  was  cor¬ 
responding  continually  when  they  were  in  their  distant 
fields.  Anyone  who  has  attempted  to  keep  up  a  cor¬ 
respondence,  and  especially  to  discuss  important  ques¬ 
tions,  across  the  continent,  can  imagine  some  of  the 
difficulties  of  missionary  administration  where  a  let¬ 
ter  takes  a  month  to  go  either  way. 

Of  a  piece  with  Mr.  McLean’s  pains  to  maintain 
complete  and  definite  understanding  and  intimate  fel¬ 
lowship  with  each  missionary,  was  the  thoroughness 
with  which  he  prepared  his  addresses  to  the  society’s 
constituency.  When  his  friends  finally  prevailed  upon 
him  to  publish  some  of  these  messages,  he  needed  to 


— Parsons,  Wheeling,  1S90 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN  AT  41 
President  of  Bethany  College. 


FIRST  BOOK 


135 


make  only  an  incidental  revision  of  them  to  have  them 
fit  to  appear  in  a  book.  This  first  volume  of  his  works 
he  called  simply  Missionary  Addresses.  He  published 
it  in  1895  with  the  following  prefatory  note. 

The  addresses  contained  in  this  volume  were  prepared  for 
college  students  and  for  gatherings  of  Christian  workers. 
Most  of  them  were  delivered  at  Ann  Arbor,  Bethany,  Butler, 
Drake,  Eureka,  Hiram  and  Lexington.  Some  of  them  were 
delivered  before  missionary  conventions  from  the  Atlantic  to 
the  Pacific.  They  are  published  because  some  good  people 
who  heard  them  thought  they  contained  information  that 
would  be  helpful  to  many.  They  were  prepared  in  the  spare 
hours  of  several  busy  years.  No  claim  for  originality  is  made. 
Other  men  labored  and  I  entered  into  their  labors. 

There  were  fourteen  addresses  in  the  book.  Five 
of  them  were  expositions  of  passages  from  the  Scrip¬ 
ture  bearing  on  missions  and  giving;  nine  were  re¬ 
ports  of  the  progress  of  missions.  The  five  were 
sermons  enforcing  the  duty  of  missions  and  illustrated 
with  missionary  incidents;  the  nine  were  lectures, 
packed  with  facts  and  illuminated  with  Biblical  pas¬ 
sages.  He  appealed  to  the  conscience,  to  pity,  to  loy¬ 
alty,  to  the  admiration  of  heroism,  to  the  love  of  suc¬ 
cess.  All  moved  on  a  high  plane.  Only  one  dwelt  with 
anything  like  exclusive  attention  upon  the  work  of  the 
Disciples  of  Christ  and  that  covered  all  the  other 
boards  of  the  communion,  state  and  national,  as  well 
as  the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society. 

In  an  appendix  he  gives  the  names  and  brief  ac¬ 
counts  of  the  missionaries  of  the  Foreign  Christian 
Missionary  Society,  a  selected  list  of  missionary  books 
and  a  carefully  prepared  index  of  the  volume.  This 
was  not  only  his  first  book  but  the  first  missionary 
volume  published  among  the  Disciples  of  Christ.  It 
exerted  a  profound  influence.  Ministers  and  others 
who  had  heard  one  or  two  of  the  addresses  secured 
the  volume  and  read  them  all,  and  then  passed  the 


136 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


book  on  to  their  neighbors  and  friends  whose  minds 
were  informed  and  whose  consciences  were  stirred  by 
the  rapier  thrusts  of  its  vigorous  sentences. 

The  comprehensiveness  of  the  addresses  is  note¬ 
worthy.  The  book’s  unerring  grasp  of  the  fundamen¬ 
tals  makes  it  as  valuable  today  as  when  it  first  ap¬ 
peared.  Indeed,  as  you  read  its  pages  it  is  only  an 
occasional  date  or  figure  that  makes  you  realize  the 
years  that  have  passed  since  it  was  published,  unless 
you  look  at  the  photographic  illustrations.  There  you 
are  startled  to  see  Miss  Gretchen  Garst  portrayed  at 
the  age  of  her  present  Japanese  kindergartners,  and 
Mrs.  David  W.  Teachout  (Ruth  Meigs)  and  other  hon¬ 
ored  matrons  of  the  present  day,  too  young  to  be 
counted  in  anything  beyond  the  cradle  roll. 

In  harmony  with  the  subject  of  the  first  address  in 
this  book,  which  was,  “The  Supreme  Mission  of  the 
Church/ ’  he  named  the  last  volume  he  published  The 
Primacy  of  the  Missionary ,  which  is  also  the  title  of 
the  first  address  in  the  last  book.  The  two  books  are 
quite  different;  a  quarter  of  a  century  had  passed 
between  them,  but  the  underlying  dominant  truth  is 
the  same. 

The  visits  of  the  missionaries  to  the  churches  were 
practically  all  the  field  work  done  for  the  Foreign  So¬ 
ciety  while  Mr.  McLean  was  president  of  Bethany  Col¬ 
lege.  Even  after  he  returned  to  Cincinnati  the 
exactions  of  the  office  were  such  that  he  could  not  be 
away  for  long  periods  of  time.  He  attended  some  of 
the  state  conventions,  visited  the  colleges  and  spoke 
in  such  churches  as  he  could  reach  from  Cincinnati 
without  spending  more  than  one  night  on  a  train. 
The  Missionary  Intelligencer  was  his  chief  dependence 
for  acquainting  the  people  with  the  work.  He  sent  a 
copy  to  every  minister,  to  the  superintendent  of  each 
contributing  Sunday  school  and  to  every  individual 


TEN  THOUSAND  IDEAS,  ONE  TASK  137 


who  gave  five  dollars  or  more,  as  well  as  to  every  one 
who  paid  the  subscription  price  of  fifty  cents  a  year. 
To  reach  the  membership  of  the  churches  more  fully 
he  and  Mr.  Rains  inaugurated  in  1894  a  quarterly 
paper  of  four  large  pages  called  the  Missionary  Voice, 
for  general  distribution  in  the  churches  as  requested. 
They  continued  this  until  1909. 

The  curse  of  the  lukewarm  never  threatened  Archi¬ 
bald  McLean.  His  commitment  to  the  missionary 
cause,  and  specifically  to  the  work  of  the  Foreign 
Christian  Missionary  Society,  was  as  complete  as  it 
was  final.  He  had  no  avocation,  no  side  interest,  no 
“outside  of  hours.’ ’  He  was  a  specialist.  His  con¬ 
centrated  consecration  to  one  sole  task  left  no  time  for 
commencement  addresses,  Chautauqua  lectures  or  re¬ 
vival  meetings.  He  read  widely,  traveled  extensively 
and  observed  closely  but  always  with  one  objective. 
He  had  ten  thousand  ideas  but  only  one  task. 


CHAPTER  XI 


A  CIRCUIT  OP  THE  GLOBE 

BY  ORDER  OF  THE  CONVENTION - A  SUCCESSION  OF  FAREWELLS — PUBLICA¬ 

TION  OF  LETTERS  AND  BOOK — HOME  MISSIONS — HAWAII — LIFE  ON  SHIPBOARD 
— APPROACHING  AND  SEEING  JAPAN — ITINERATING  IN  CHINA — STUDYING 
INDIA — BAPTIZING  IN  INDIA — SPEAKING  IN  AUSTRALIA — PATH  OF  DUTY 
HOMEWARD — IMPRESSIONS  OF  THE  GRAND  TOUR. 

HAVING  fully  committed  himself  to  the  missionary 
work  Mr.  McLean  began  to  think  of  visiting  the 
mission  fields  which  he  had  been  studying  from  a  dis¬ 
tance  all  his  life,  and  with  which  he  had  been  inti¬ 
mately  concerned  for  many  years.  In  connection  with 
his  prodigal  giving  he  managed  by  extraordinary  self- 
denial  to  accumulate  two  thousand  dollars  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  the  long-dreamed-of  trip.  Before  he 
had  made  definite  plans,  however,  the  financial  panic 
of  1893  came  on  and  cut  down  the  receipts  of  the  so¬ 
ciety  so  severely  that  the  salaries  of  the  missionaries 
fell  into  arrears.  Finally  an  urgent  cablegram  came 
from  China  which  showed  actual  distress  on  account 
of  the  overdue  payments.  To  save  the  credit  of  the 
society  and  to  prevent  suffering  among  the  mission¬ 
aries,  Mr.  McLean  promptly  drew  his  travel  fund  from 
the  bank  and  forwarded  it  to  the  China  mission.  In 
1896  the  executive  committee  returned  the  money  to 
him,  but  characteristically  he  put  it  into  the  work 
again  in  such  ways  that  it  could  not  be  refunded  a 
second  time.  Some  of  his  friends  learning  of  what  had 
happened  before  the  convention  at  Bichmond,  Vir¬ 
ginia,  October,  1894,  B.  C.  Deweese,  then  a  professor 
in  Eureka  College,  Illinois,  offered  a  resolution  in  the 


138 


BY  ORDER  OF  THE  CONVENTION  139 


convention  to  send  Mr.  McLean  to  visit  all  of  the  For¬ 
eign  Society’s  missionary  fields  to  counsel  and  cheer 
the  missionaries,  to  secure  first-hand  knowledge  of  the 
problems  and  progress  of  the  work  and  to  tell  the  peo¬ 
ple  at  home  what  he  learned. 

This  was  passed  unanimously,  and  then  A.  M.  Atkin¬ 
son,  a  business  man  of  Wabash,  Indiana,  whose  pas¬ 
sionate  plea  for  aged  and  disabled  ministers  at  the 
convention  in  Dallas  the  following  year  led  to  the  or¬ 
ganization  of  the  Board  of  Ministerial  Relief,  took  an 
offering  in  the  convention  for  the  expenses  of  the 
journey. 

Before  Mr.  McLean  left  Cincinnati,  July  24,  1895, 
the  Mt.  Healthy  Church,  where  he  still  had  his  home 
and  membership,  gave  him  a  reception.  Following 
this,  his  friends  arranged  a  larger  farewell  meeting 
in  the  Central  Church  on  Sunday  evening,  all  of  the 
churches  of  the  city  and  vicinity  adjourning  their 
services  and  many  individuals  coming  from  a  distance. 
It  was  a  great  missionary  event  and  a  striking  testi¬ 
mony  to  the  high  regard  in  which  the  people  held  their 
secretary.  He  went  in  a  special  capacity  as  their  am¬ 
bassador  to  the  distant  nations.  The  fully  demon¬ 
strated  wisdom,  strength  and  devotion  of  Mr.  Rains 
relieved  Mr.  McLean’s  mind  of  all  care  and  anxiety 
regarding  the  conduct  of  the  work  in  the  office. 

Mr.  McLean  was  really  in  high  glee  as  he  started 
on  his  circuit  of  the  globe.  Near  the  journey’s  end  he 
said  only  one  thing  was  lacking  and  that  was  the  com¬ 
radeship  of  a  choice  friend.  Even  this  he  had  from 
Cincinnati  to  St.  Louis,  in  the  person  of  Ellsworth 
Faris,  who  had  just  been  appointed  as  a  missionary  to 
the  Congo.  He  assured  Mr.  Faris  that  he  was  going 
to  get  some  comfort  out  of  the  trip  and  backed  up  the 
assertion  by  taking  seats  in  the  parlor  car.  But  he 
later  proved  that  he  was  not  plunging  very  deeply  into 


140 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


luxury  by  telling  Mr.  Faris,  in  answer  to  his  question, 
that  he  had  secured  his  ticket  clear  around  the  world 
at  a  cost  of  twelve  hundred  dollars.  His  admiration  of 
the  way  Mr.  Faris  folded  his  frock  coat,  and  his  re¬ 
quest  that  he  show  him  how  to  do  it,  illustrated  his 
keen  interest  in  everything  and  his  engaging  eagerness 
to  learn  from  everyone  who  could  show  him  anything. 
To  the  end  of  his  life  instances  of  this  sort  abounded. 
That  he  did  not  himself  dress  handsomely  was  not 
because  he  did  not  know  the  difference  or  was  careless 
of  little  tilings,  but  simply  because  he  was  scrupu¬ 
lously  conscientious  in  making  every  penny  and  every 
moment  count  for  the  advancement  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God. 

Until  the  last  his  delight  was  in  the  things  of 
the  spirit.  He  gave  the  least  possible  time  and  ex¬ 
pense  to  feeding  and  clothing  and  housing  himself — 
the  things  to  which  mankind  in  general  gives  most  of 
its  thought  and  strength.  That  which  is  ordinary  and 
perfunctory  with  most  people,  with  him  had  the  chief 
place.  He  did  not  shake  hands  limply,  but  seized  your 
hand  in  both  of  his  while  his  face  glowed  with  a  smile 
of  delight  at  meeting  you.  When  he  said  grace  at 
table  the  words  might  be  few  but  they  were  weighty 
and  real,  and  expressed,  both  for  himself  and  for  all 
others  present,  an  actual  sense  of  gratitude  to  the 
Giver  of  all  blessings.  Nor  could  he  limit  his  thought 
to  those  who  sat  about  the  one  board.  It  encompassed 
the  globe  and  he  generally  closed  with,  “Be  with  all 
those  we  love  everywhere/ 9  If  he  pronounced  the 
benediction  at  a  church  service  it  was  clearly  no  mere 
form  of  words.  When  he  prayed  in  public  or  in  pri¬ 
vate  he  spoke  face  to  face  with  God. 

Illustrating  his  attitude  toward  dress,  C.  M.  Yocum 
says :  “Brother  McLean  and  I  had  spent  the  night  in 
Indianapolis,  Indiana.  As  we  dressed,  he  held  up  the 


A  SUCCESSION  OF  FAREWELLS  141 


sleeve  of  his  shirt  to  me  to  inspect,  and  asked,  ‘My 
friend,  is  that  shirt  silk?’  It  was  made  of  a  silky  fin¬ 
ished  material,  but  quite  plainly  was  not  silk.  I  an¬ 
swered,  ‘No,  Brother  McLean,  that  is  not  silk.  Did 
you  buy  it  for  silk?’  He  answered  quickly,  ‘No,  I 
bought  it  at  a  sale,  but  I’ve  been  afraid  to  wear  it,  lest 
someone  should  think  I  was  wearing  a  silk  shirt.  ’  ’  ’ 

When  he  reached  St.  Louis  on  his  journey,  all  of  the 
churches  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  united  their  prayer 
meeting  services  and  assembled  in  one  place  to  express 
their  interest  in  world-wide  missions  and  to  bid  him 
Godspeed.  He  stopped  also  in  Kansas  City,  Denver 
and  Salt  Lake  City,  and  each  city  gave  him  every  pos¬ 
sible  opportunity  to  speak.  In  Kansas  City  he  spent 
the  night  in  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  G.  W.  Muckley. 
All  evening  their  sons,  six  and  four  years  of  age,  were 
on  his  knees.  When  finally  they  were  getting  ready 
for  bed,  they  kept  asking  their  mother,  “When  will 
Brother  McLean  be  on  the  ocean  ?”  Several  nights 
later  they  were  told  that  he  had  sailed  from  San  Fran¬ 
cisco.  Then  the  older  boy  leading  the  common  prayer 
said,  “God  bless  Brother  McLean  and  don’t  let  him 
fall  off  the  boat,  and  if  he  does  don’t  let  the  sharks 
get  him,  or  don’t  let  the  sawfish  saw  him  in  two,  or 
don’t  let  the  swordfish  stick  him  through.” 

Before  sailing  from  San  Francisco,  August  3,  on  the 
steamer  City  of  Pekin,  he  attended  the  California  state 
convention  at  Santa  Cruz.  The  large  assembly  lis¬ 
tened  intently  to  his  addresses  and  then  volunteered  a 
generous  offering  toward  the  expenses  of  his  journey. 
Prior  to  the  Cincinnati  farewell,  he  had  visited  Boston, 
where  the  church  evinced  the  same  marked  interest 
both  in  the  man  and  in  his  mission.  Thus  there  was 
a  series  of  ovations,  stretching  across  the  continent, 
to  cheer  his  departure. 

Before  he  sailed  the  church  papers  had  arranged  to 


142 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


publish  weekly  letters  descriptive  of  his  journey.  Af¬ 
ter  his  return  he  assembled  these  in  book  form  under 
the  title,  A  Circuit  of  the  Globe ,  the  second  volume 
from  his  pen.  Into  these  letters  he  naturally  put  more 
of  humor  and  general  human  interest  than  into  his 
other  volumes,  all  of  which,  except  the  History  of  the 
Foreign  Society ,  were  made  up  of  lectures  and  ad¬ 
dresses.  The  people  read  these  letters  with  great  in¬ 
terest  both  as  they  appeared  from  week  to  week  and 
later  in  their  permanent  form. 

In  the  second  letter  of  this  memorable  series  he 
made  a  plea  for  missions  in  America,  which  showed  at 
that  early  day  that  his  missionary  interest  was  not 
limited  to  the  foreign  fields  but  was  also  intimately 
concerned  with  the  home  land.  Even  before  his  con¬ 
nection  with  the  Men  and  Millions  Movement  and 
the  United  Christian  Missionary  Society  broadened 
his  official  responsibility,  Mr.  McLean  delivered  many 
effective  home  missionary  addresses.  In  this  letter 
he  called  attention  to  the  rapidity  with  which  Chicago 
and  other  cities  of  the  West  had  grown  from  mere  vil¬ 
lages  and  foretold  the  further  development  which  we 
have  since  seen.  Urging  the  Disciples  to  recognize 
these  new  and  growing  centers  of  population  as  chal¬ 
lenges  to  home  missionary  enterprise,  he  said,  “We 
must  go  at  this  work  as  men  go  into  great  business 
ventures.  We  must  capture  the  great  cities.  *  *  * 
We  are  playing  with  this  work;  we  are  trifling  with  a 
great  trust.  We  need  to  hear  the  voice  of  God  like  a 
fire  bell  at  midnight,  ‘Awake,  thou  that  sleepest  and 
arise  from  the  dead,  and  Christ  shall  give  thee 
light !  ’  ” 

Mr.  McLean  had  a  delightful  stop  of  two  days  in 
Honolulu  where  he  was  graciously  entertained  by  dear 
friends. 

For  the  first  time  he  was  on  the  scene  of  foreign  mis- 


HAWAII 


143 


sionary  labor.  He  was  familiar  with  the  published 
accounts  of  the  turning  of  the  natives  of  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  from  the  abject  worship  of  idols  to  the  glad 
service  of  the  living  God.  In  the  fifty  years  from  the 
arrival  in  1820  of  the  first  missionaries  of  the  American 
Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions  (Con¬ 
gregational)  fifty  thousand  people  had  been  brought 
into  the  church.  They  showed  the  reality  and  vitality 
of  their  faith  not  only  by  exchanging  their  brutal  and 
horrible  ways  for  the  gentle  graces  of  Christianity  but 
also  by  carrying  the  gospel  message  to  their  kindred 
in  the  Marquesas,  Gilbert  and  Marshall  Islands, 
though  many  suffered  martyrdom  in  so  doing.  Mr. 
McLean’s  soul  was  stirred  as  he  looked  upon  the 
graves  of  the  missionaries  who  had  led  in  this  Chris¬ 
tian  regeneration,  talked  with  the  son  of  one  of  the 
pioneers  who  had  devoted  his  own  life  to  similar  serv¬ 
ice  in  the  Gilbert  Islands,  and  turned  the  pages  of  the 
first  Bible  printed  in  the  Hawaiian  language. 

This  Bible  was  kept  in  the  Bishop  Museum  of  Poly¬ 
nesian  Ethnology  and  Natural  History,  where  he  found 
also  countless  objects  of  missionary  interest  from  the 
scattered  islands  of  the  Pacific.  In  the  museum,  as 
everywhere,  were  things  which  he  took  less  seriously: 

In  one  room  are  portraits  of  all  the  kings  and  queens,  be¬ 
ginning  with  Kamehameha  the  Great,  down  to  the  present 
time.  Not  only  so,  but  there  are  portraits  of  many  distin¬ 
guished  people  who  are  connected  with  the  islands  in  some 
way.  The  Curator  pointed  out  Princess  Ruth.  She  weighed 
about  four  hundred  pounds.  It  took  five  men  to  help  her  into 
the  saddle  when  she  went  out  for  a  ride.  She  measured 
around  the  waist  sixty  inches.  Once  she  proposed  to  com¬ 
press  her  waist  as  foreigners  do.  She  got  a  corset  and  got  a 
number  of  court  flunkies  to  assist.  She  emptied  her  lungs 
and  asked  them  to  haul  in  the  slack.  She  repeated  this 
process  two  or  three  times,  but  when  she  began  to  breathe 
everything  broke  and  she  was  as  large  as  before.  She  de¬ 
spaired  of  a  wasp  waist.  Once  the  Curator  tried  to  waltz 


144 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


with  her.  He  might  as  well  have  tried  to  get  his  arm  around 
a  hogshead.  He  wished  he  had  been  able  to  take  Sydney 
Smith’s  advice  and  dance  with  her  in  sections,  or  read  the 
riot  act  and  disperse  her ! 

Among  the  passengers  he  was  naturally  interested 
especially  in  the  missionaries,  of  whom  there  were  four 
on  board,  three  of  them  women,  which  reminded  him  of 
Robert  Cust’s  saying,  “We  will  soon  have  to  change 
Wellington’s  familiar  order,  and  say,  ‘Up  ladies,  and 
at  them!’  ”  Two  things  on  shipboard  seemed  to 
trouble  him.  One  was  the  lack  of  something  to  do,  and 
the  other  was  the  many  meals  that  were  served  and 
the  superabundance  of  things  to  eat.  He  said : 

Capacity  for  eating  is  like  capacity  for  singing  or  speaking. 
It  is  a  gift ;  it  cannot  be  acquired.  Coming  down  the  Sierras, 
a  girl  of  some  thirty  summers  sat  opposite  me  at  the  table. 
She  began  with  a  drink  that  to  an  innocent  prohibitionist 
looked  suspiciously  like  a  cocktail.  Then  she  had  a  bottle  of 
Apollinaris  water,  then  a  pot  of  tea,  meanwhile  drinking 
several  glasses  of  ice  water.  She  ordered  and  enclosed  a 
breakfast  such  as  would  have  satisfied  Samson  or  Goliath,  or 
both.  She  read  while  eating  to  improve  her  mind.  When 
she  was  done  she  wiped  her  tapering  fingers  and  her  rosy  lips 
and  looked  as  if  she  had  been  sipping  nectar  and  tasting  am¬ 
brosia.  An  omniverous  girl  amuses  me.  Such  an  appetite 
would  be  a  treasure. 

Referring  to  the  lazy  life  on  shipboard,  he  observed : 

There  is  nothing  to  do  and  all  day  and  all  night  in  which 
to  do  it.  Carlyle  said  that  every  man  is  as  lazy  as  he  dares  to 
be.  Who  has  not  found  it  so  ?  The  first  few  days  one  chafes 
a  good  deal.  The  demon  of  work  still  possesses  him.  I  work 
eight  hours  a  day  and  am  getting  a  reputation  for  industry. 
But  eight  hours  compared  with  the  hours  I  worked  back  in 
the  mission  rooms  are  like  child’s  play.  Sometimes  I  long  to 
be  back  to  share  in  the  work  and  in  the  joy.  But  my  pro¬ 
phetic  soul  tells  me  that  I  shall  soon  feel  like  joining  the 
society  spoken  of  by  Ian  MacLaren,  ‘  ‘  The  Amalgamated  Sons 
of  Rest,”  a  society  with  conscientious  objections  to  work  be¬ 
tween  meals. 


*  •  4»  *  * 


LIFE  ON  SHIPBOARD 


145 


The  conversation  at  the  table  and  on  the  deck  is  of  the  most 
trivial  character.  I  have  not  heard  a  bright  remark  since  I 
came  on  board.  Passengers  are  giving  their  minds  a  rest. 
They  must  be.  They  think  with  their  teeth.  What  is  lacking 
in  thought  is  made  up  in  strong  language.  The  soup  is  ‘‘per¬ 
fectly  lovely /’  the  hash  is  “perfectly  beautiful the  baked 
beans  are  “perfectly  delicious/ *  mangoes  are  “ horrid’ 7  and 
onions  are  ‘  ‘  dreadful.  ’  ’  One  man  sleeps  ‘  ‘  magnificently.  ’ ’  I 
have  listened  to  tittle-tattle  and  extravagant  expressions  till 
my  soul  is  sick.  There  is  some  advantage  in  being  deaf  and 
dumb. 

The  books  read  are  novels  and  guide  books.  The  novels  as  a 
rule  are  poor  stuff.  They  indicate  the  caliber  and  culture  of 
their  readers.  I  have  read  Beside  the  Bonnie  Brier  Bush 
twice.  I  gave  it  to  a  Scotch  missionary.  He  devoured  it  at  a 
sitting.  This  is  a  noble  book.  No  one  can  read  it  without 
being  made  better.  I  have  read  Froude’s  Oceana  and  some 
other  solid  works.  I  can  understand  how  Stanley  threw  away 
book  after  book  till  his  Bible  only  was  left.  The  more  one 
reads,  the  more  this  divine  book  becomes  to  him,  the  more 
evident  its  immeasurable  superiority  becomes.  It  is  at  once 
the  newest  and  oldest  of  books.  It  is  the  most  fascinating 
book  to  read  on  train  or  ship,  in  the  wilderness  or  in  the  city. 
We  are  supposed  to  be  on  a  vacation.  “There  is  nothing 
but  space  and  color  and  breath  of  the  sea;  no  soil,  no  mail, 
no  rail,  nothing  but  rest  and  God.”  We  drink  in  ozone  from 
every  wave  and  every  breeze.  The  mind  is  being  fertilized 
and  invigorated.  Let  us  hope  that  because  of  this  season  of 
inaction  it  will  give  expression  to  thoughts  that  will  shine 
and  sparkle,  to  truths  that  will  wake  to  perish  never. 

The  following  note  of  intense  humanity  is  doubly 
interesting  when  it  is  known  that  in  all  his  journeys 
by  land  or  water,  he  was  quick  to  detect  the  brides 
and  grooms  who  happened  to  be  his  fellow  travelers. 

There  is  not  a  bride  on  board.  The  captain  states  that  he 
has  had  twenty-one  in  a  single  voyage.  The  raw  material  is 
here  but  not  the  sweet,  finished  article.  This  is  quite  a  loss. 
A  bridal  party  on  a  train  or  on  a  boat  is  as  good  as  a  play. 
The  fact  that  there  should  be  a  superabundance  of  brides  on 
one  voyage  and  none  on  the  next,  constrains  one  to  believe 
with  John  Calvin  in  total  depravity. 


146 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Between  Hawaii  and  Japan  Mr.  McLean  was  think¬ 
ing  much  of  the  difference  between  the  evangelization 
of  the  islands  he  had  left  and  that  of  those  he  was 
approaching.  He  wrote,  4  ‘  Savage  people  are  ready  to 
accept  what  they  hear.  A  missionary  digs  a  well  in  a 
dry  season  and  they  regard  him  as  a  supernatural 
being.  They  never  heard  of  a  well.  They  are  ready 
to  say,  ‘The  gods  have  come  down  in  the  likeness  of 
man.’  *  *  *  In  Japan  it  is  different.  Here  are  an¬ 
cient  and  venerated  religions,  magnificent  temples  and 
priests  without  number.  Christianity  was  under  the 
ban  for  centuries.  Its  advocates  were  said  to  be  bar¬ 
barous  and  devilish.  The  missionaries  have  to  show 
that  it  is  a  rational  faith  and  that  it  is  worthy  of  all 
acceptation.”  He  was  eager  to  see  how  Christianity 
was  meeting  this  severest  test  and  especially  to  wit¬ 
ness  the  progress  which  the  representatives  of  the 
Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society  were  making 
in  the  land  of  Bushido. 

In  September,  1883,  George  T.  Smith  and  wife  and 
C.  E.  Garst  and  wife  had  sailed  for  Japan.  These  had 
been  joined  later  by  Miss  Kate  J ohnson,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
H.  H.  Guy,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  E.  S.  Stevens,  Miss  Lavenia 
Oldham,  Miss  Mary  Rioch  and  Miss  Loduska  Wirick. 
Several  others  had  gone  out  to  work  independently. 
Before  Mr.  McLean’s  journey  Mrs.  George  T.  Smith 
had  died  and  Mr.  Smith  had  come  to  the  United  States 
on  furlough,  where  he  had  married  Miss  Candace 
Lhamon  before  returning  to  his  field  of  labor.  Mr. 
McLean  visited  in  the  homes  of  these  missionaries  and 
saw  the  different  points  and  aspects  of  their  activities, 
forming  his  impressions  of  the  needs  and  the  op¬ 
portunities  for  Christian  work  among  the  people. 

Those  who  were  familiar  with  his  manner  of  speech 
smiled  as  they  read  his  account  of  how  he  had  to  speak 
in  Japan: 


JAPAN 


147 


One  thing  tried  me.  I  have  eaten  soup  with  chopsticks; 
I  have  parboiled  myself  in  hot  baths;  I  have  touched  the 
ground  with  the  top  of  my  head  a  hundred  times  in  a  day; 
but  nothing  has  tried  me  so  much  as  speaking  while  sitting 
on  the  floor,  and  through  an  interpreter.  It  is  as  natural  for 
a  man  to  stand  up  when  he  has  anything  to  say,  as  it  is  for 
him  to  sit  down  when  he  is  through.  The  human  organism 
is  a  galvanic  battery,  and  the  mind  works  best  when  it  has 
two  ground  connections.  The  audiences  were  so  attentive 
that  speaking  in  any  posture  was  not  so  difficult  as  otherwise 
it  would  have  been. 

He  saw  also  the  independent  work  carried  on  by 
some  Disciples  and  the  older  missions  of  other  bodies, 
as  well  as  Imperial  University,  Nobles’  School  and 
other  government  schools.  He  informed  himself  of 
the  history  of  missions  in  Japan,  the  religions  and 
customs  of  the  people,  and  took  an  interest  in  every¬ 
thing  relating  to  the  nation  and  the  people.  He  had  a 
conference  with  Dr.  D.  C.  Greene,  the  pioneer  of  the 
American  Board  in  Japan,  and  with  Dr.  Guido  F.  Ver- 
beck,  one  of  the  first  four  missionaries  to  enter  Japan 
in  1859,  and  later  a  trusted  educational  adviser  of  the 
government.  On  the  journey  from  Japan  to  China  he 
met  Dr.  William  Ashmore  and  Mrs.  Isabella  Bird 
Bishop,  as  well  as  other  noted  missionaries  and  travel¬ 
ers. 

Strenuous  as  had  been  Mr.  McLean’s  itinerary 
among  the  churches  at  home,  his  labor  was  doubly  try¬ 
ing  in  China.  He  appreciated  the  importance  of  the 
little  mission  planted  in  the  midst  of  the  world’s  oldest 
civilization  and  most  populous  nation.  With  great  ad¬ 
miration  he  looked  upon  the  people,  whether  mandarin 
or  coolie,  and  saw  in  them  infinite  possibilities,  if 
they  but  had  the  gospel.  He  wanted  to  learn  their 
habits,  their  religion  and  every  element  of  their  lives. 
He  desired  to  see  all  that  other  mission  boards  were 
doing  and  to  meet  as  many  as  possible  of  their  work¬ 
ers.  He  sought  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  every 


148 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


station  of  his  own  mission  and  every  department  of  its 
work,  whether  evangelistic,  educational  or  medical.  It 
never  occurred  to  him  that  there  might  be  a  limit  to 
his  strength,  and  the  missionaries  evidently  did  not 
stop  to  consider  that  he  was  matching  his  endurance 
against  their  entire  group  working  in  relays,  while 
he  was  under  the  additional  handicap  of  being  in  a 
strange  climate,  eating  strange  food,  traveling  in 
strange  ways  and  sleeping  practically  without  a  bed 
every  night  that  he  was  away  from  the  home  of  a  mis¬ 
sionary.  After  an  elaborate  dinner  which  a  friendly 
but  unconverted  Chinese  had  given  in  his  honor  Mr. 
McLean  remarked  to  the  missionary,  ‘  ‘  I  would  not  have 
missed  that  round  table  of  abominable  delicacies  for  a 
royal  banquet.’ ’ 

The  difficulties  of  travel  were  especially  trying.  He 
wrote : 

As  soon  as  it  was  light  we  started.  We  made  ten  miles 
before  breakfast.  Though  we  were  off  so  early  hundreds  were 
out  to  see  us.  Our  coming  was  an  event  in  their  lives.  It 
was  like  a  circus  at  home.  We  were  the  first  foreigners  many 
of  them  had  ever  seen.  We  traveled  all  day  in  wheelbarrows. 
There  are  no  railways  and  no  stagecoaches  or  carts  in  this 
part  of  the  empire.  The  wheelbarrow  is  the  sole  method  of 
transportation.  Thirty  miles  is  a  day’s  journey.  A  wheel¬ 
barrow  in  China  has  as  little  romance  and  comfort  as  one  at 
home.  It  could  be  made  fairly  comfortable,  but  that  would 
not  be  Chinese.  Any  change  would  show  disrespect  to  Con¬ 
fucius.  At  the  close  of  the  first  day  one  feels  pretty  sore. 
The  roads  are  narrow  and  poor;  China  has  the  worst  roads 
in  the  world.  It  is  only  by  courtesy  that  they  can  be  called 
roads.  They  are  like  Indian  trails.  Men  must  walk  in  single 
file.  The  bridges  are  about  two  feet  wide.  Culverts  are  often 
not  six  inches.  A  single  stone  or  a  piece  of  wood  flattened 
on  one  side  answers  the  purpose.  No  cart  or  horse  could  go 
over  the  roads  and  bridges  in  this  part  of  China.  The  coolies 
are  great  strong  fellows.  One  wheeled  two  men  over  thirty 
miles  in  a  day  and  seemed  as  fresh  at  the  end  as  at  the  be¬ 
ginning.  They  go  faster  with  a  load  than  we  could  without. 


CHINA 


149 


I  never  looked  at  them  without  admiration.  Give  these  beasts 
of  burden  the  gospel  and  a  good  education  and  they  will  be 
worthy  to  stand  before  kings. 

After  Mr.  McLean  had  gone  on  to  India  the  annual 
China  convention  sent  this  message  to  the  churches  at 
home : 

A.  McLean  has  come  and  gone.  We  feel  that  his  visit  did 
us  great  good.  His  words  of  encouragement ;  his  gentle  hints 
by  way  of  criticism ;  his  affable  treatment  of  everybody,  have 
left  an  impression  for  good  which  will  never  be  erased.  He 
did  what  no  globe-trotter  has  ever  done  before  in  this  part 
of  the  country — he  went  with  nearly  every  member  of  the 
mission  on  itinerating  trips  to  their  country  work.  He  knows 
what  it  is  to  itinerate.  He  is  a  master  at  donkey  riding  and 
wheelbarrow  riding,  and  in  the  manipulation  of  the  chop¬ 
sticks.  He  can  sleep  soundly  on  a  board,  and  even  with  three 
in  a  bed.  He  heard  the  hum  of  Yangtse  valley  mosquitoes, 
and  to  wind  up  with,  had  a  round  with  Yangtse  valley  ma¬ 
laria.  He  can  write  a  book  and  it  won’t  be  such  a  book  as 
most  globe-trotters  write.  In  short,  A.  McLean  can  tell  more 
of  what  it  really  means  to  be  a  missionary  than  he  could 
before  he  came,  and  no  doubt  has  a  better  idea  of  it  than  the 
large  majority  of  visitors  to  these  fields.  *  #  #  We  are 

proud  of  our  secretary.  We  are  grateful  to  the  brethren,  to 
him,  and  to  our  Heavenly  Father  for  his  visit  among  us.  We 
separated  with  reluctance,  but  with  praise  on  our  lips  for  all 
the  mercies  of  God. 

This  program  would  have  been  heavy  enough  if  he 
had  been  merely  sight-seeing,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact 
he  was  making  a  close  study  of  everything  that  came 
within  his  reach,  writing  down  copious  notes  and  ac¬ 
cumulating  extensive  funds  of  exact  information. 
Within  a  few  weeks  he  accomplished  what  should  have 
required  months,  with  the  result  that  when  he  left 
China  he  was  completely  exhausted.  The  voyage  from 
Hongkong  to  Calcutta,  broken  by  stops  at  Singapore 
and  Penang,  was  not  sufficient  to  recuperate  his 
strength  before  he  reached  Calcutta,  where  his  eager 
study  of  mission  stations  was  resumed.  He  gave  par- 


150 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


ticular  attention  to  the  missionary  work  that  had  been 
done  about  Calcutta  and  especially  to  the  monumental 
labors  of  William  Carey  there  and  in  Serampore. 

Without  realizing  that  health  and  even  life,  as  well 
as  comfort,  might  be  sacrificed,  he  made  the  four  hun¬ 
dred  and  fifty  miles  from  Calcutta  to  Bilaspur  in  the 
bare  compartment  of  an  Indian  railroad  car  without 
rugs,  blankets  and  pillows  to  protect  him  from  the  cold 
of  a  January  night.  Part  of  the  journey  was  at  a  con¬ 
siderable  altitude  and  when  he  reached  Bilaspur  he 
was  thoroughly  chilled.  In  spite  of  his  aversion  to 
surrendering  he  had  to  go  to  bed  and  give  himself  up 
to  inactivity  for  the  next  week. 

Before  Mr.  McLean  left  Bilaspur  he  preached  to 
the  native  church,  taking  as  his  text,  “And  this  is  life 
eternal,  that  they  should  know  thee,  the  only  true  God, 
and  Jesus  Christ  whom  thou  didst  send.”  M.  D. 
Adams,  who  had  been  one  of  the  founders  of  this  sta¬ 
tion  in  1885,  acted  as  interpreter.  The  congregation 
filled  the  house  and  was  deeply  impressed  both  with 
the  sermon  and  with  the  significance  of  the  occasion, 
which  closed  with  the  communion. 

Though  his  strength  was  not  fully  restored  he  visited 
Mungeli,  Damoh,  Jubbulpore,  Bina,  Harda  and  Mahoba 
and  made  a  careful  study  of  the  entire  field.  After 
seeing  all  but  two  of  the  stations  of  his  own  mission 
and  making  a  comprehensive  tour  of  Benares,  Cawn- 
pore,  Lucknow,  Delhi  and  Agra,  in  the  north,  he  asked 
Mr.  Wharton  to  accompany  him  on  the  long  journey 
to  the  south  of  India  to  see  some  of  the  old  established 
missions  there,  just  as  E.  T.  Williams,  another  of  his 
old  Bethany  College  friends,  had  gone  with  him  to  the 
north  of  China.  They  met  in  Bombay  where  he  took 
an  especial  interest  in  the  school  and  church  of  the 
American  Board.  In  Poona  they  found  Pandita  Ra- 
rnabai,  the  gracious  and  able  champion  of  Hindu 


INDIA 


151 


widows,  surrounded  by  a  group  of  girls  to  whom  she 
was  explaining  the  Scriptures.  Nellore,  where  the 
great  work  of  the  American  Baptists  among  the  Telu- 
gus  began,  claimed  more  than  passing  attention.  In 
the  halls  of  Christian  College  in  Madras  a  conference 
of  students  from  forty  schools  was  being  led  by  John 
R.  Mott,  J.  Campbell  White,  R.  P.  Wilder,  Max  More- 
head  and  J.  H.  Forman.  At  Tanjore  they  visited  the 
grave  of  Christian  Frederick  Swartz  and  the  two  mis¬ 
sions  that  inherit  his  work.  At  Tricliinopoly  they 
saw  the  grave  of  Reginald  Heber,  the  missionary 
bishop  who  wrote  From  Greenland’s  Icy  Mountains , 
The  Son  of  God  Goes  Forth  to  War  and  Holy ,  Holy , 
Holy ,  Lord  God  Almighty.  There  also  was  the  school 
of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel  with 
1,500  boys  in  attendance.  The  achievements  of  the 
American  Board  in  Madura  impressed  them  deeply  as 
did  also  those  of  the  Church  of  England  societies  at 
Palamcottah  in  the  Tinnevelly  district,  where  Swartz 
laid  the  foundations  more  than  a  hundred  years  be¬ 
fore  and  where  Bishop  Sargent  in  fifty  years  saw  the 
number  of  converts  in  his  diocese  increase  from  9,000 
to  55,000.  At  this  point,  after  two  weeks  of  fellow¬ 
ship,  the  friends  bade  each  other  farewell,  one  going 
back  to  his  station,  the  other  on  to  Colombo  in 
the  island  of  Ceylon.  When  Mr.  Wharton  returned, 
he  showed  Mrs.  Wharton  a  valuable  new  book  and 
said,  ‘ 4  Brother  McLean  gave  it  to  me.  He  read  it 
three  times  through  and  then  handed  it  to  me.  That 
is  the  way  he  reads  a  book.” 

The  missionaries  who  were  there  still  remember  the 
alertness  of  his  mind  in  spite  of  his  bodily  weariness 
and  illness.  His  questions  were  innumerable  and  taxed 
all  their  resources  to  answer  them.  It  will  be  remem¬ 
bered  that  1896  was  the  year  of  the  great  famine  in 
India  that  brought  many  orphan  boys  to  Damoh  as  the 


152 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


nucleus  of  the  orphanage  that  has  been  maintained 
there  ever  since.  He  gave  $400  toward  the  erection  of 
the  first  building,  the  gifts  of  the  missionaries 
supplementing  his  own  to  its  completion.  Since 
then  it  has  been  enlarged  and  is  now  known  as  McLean 
Hall.  There  are  now  four  hundred  acres  in  the  farm 
and  a  Christian  community  of  two  hundred  souls.  In 
their  annual  report  for  the  year  to  the  international 
convention,  the  missionaries  said : 

The  year  1896  has  been  made  memorable  to  our  mission 
by  the  visit  of  A.  McLean.  His  presence  of  gentleness  and 
goodness  was  a  tower  of  strength  and  his  addresses  a  bene¬ 
diction  unto  us  all,  and  the  humblest  believer  was  encouraged 
by  him.  We  are  grateful  to  the  brethren  for  sending  him 
and  sorry  his  stay  was  so  short. 

In  China  and  India,  as  well  as  in  Japan,  Mr.  McLean 
took  great  pains  to  learn  about  the  government,  the 
people,  the  religions,  the  history  of  missions,  and  not 
merely  about  the  work  of  his  own  society.  He  showed 
his  sympathy  and  interest  in  the  missionaries  and  in 
their  children,  and  in  the  many  problems  which  con¬ 
fronted  them.  In  all  these  countries  he  speaks  of  be¬ 
ing  at  baptismal  services,  but  does  not  mention  that  he 
did  the  baptizing.  From  Adelaide  Gail  Frost  we 
learn  that  he  baptized  a  number  of  persons  in  India. 
The  following  account  of  the  service,  written  by  her, 
appeared  in  the  Missionary  Tidings: 

It  was  the  month  of  February  but  roses  were  blooming  in 
the  mission  garden  and  the  verbenas,  mignonette  and  mar¬ 
guerites  whispered  to  the  pilgrims  sweet  thoughts  of  the 
homeland  far  away.  The  Lord’s  day  afternoon  service  was 
ending.  Brother  A.  McLean  had  spoken  simple,  beautiful 
words  concerning  the  Father  in  heaven,  and  Miss  Graybiel 
had  translated  them  into  a  tongue  the  people  understood. 
The  long  rays  of  the  afternoon  sun  crept  in  at  the  open  door 
of  the  bungalow  and  touched  the  bright  dresses  and  white 
draperies  of  the  orphanage  girls,  and  as  the  missionaries 


BAPTIZING  IN  INDIA 


153 


saw  tlie  bright  look  in  the  upturned  faces  they  felt  as  the 
preacher  had  said,  “God  is  light.’ ’  Men  and  women  were 
present,  too,  who  had  learned  from  Brother  McLean’s  lips 
about  the  one  great  God  and  Father  of  all,  such  words  as 
never  could  be  learned  from  their  Hindu  pundits  or  Moham¬ 
medan  maulvis.  And  now  they  were  going  down  to  the 
waters  of  Kirat  Lake.  Five  of  the  older  girls  of  the  orphan¬ 
age,  Chaturiya,  Hiriya,  Jamni,  Chanutiya  and  Sitara,  had 
said  they  loved  Jesus,  believed  in  him  as  their  Savior  and 
wished  to  obey  him  in  baptism.  The  little  company  went 
out  through  the  gate,  down  to  the  lakeside,  past  the  suttee 
piles,  past  the  sacred  peepul  trees  and  the  shrines  of  the 
heathen  gods,  to  the  baptismal  waters.  The  sun  was  setting 
over  the  lake;  the  stretch  of  water  was  very  red  until  it 
burned  with  a  heart  of  fire  near  the  great  sun’s  reflection. 
The  crimson  afterglow  shone  behind  the  hills  crowned  with 
huge  black  boulders,  and  palm  trees  rose  dark  against  the 
glowing  background.  From  that  company  which  had  come 
to  witness  the  baptisms,  songs  of  praise  to  Jesus  were  rising, 
and  from  lips  that  only  lately  learned  his  name,  the  song 
familiar  in  Christian  lands  floated  out  in  the  language  of  the 
people : 

‘  ‘  What  can  wash  away  my  sin  ? 

Nothing  but  the  blood  of  Jesus!” 

One  by  one  the  five  little  girls  went  down  into  the  water 
with  Brother  McLean.  They  went  with  him  in  utter  confi¬ 
dence.  Though  he  spoke  in  a  strange  tongue  he  was  as  much 
a  friend  to  them  as  to  any  fair-haired  child  at  home.  They 
recognized  what  was  written  in  his  face  and  they  all  knew 
him.  It  was  all  so  quiet  and  God’s  tenderest  benediction 
seemed  to  rest  on  the  spot,  though  it  was  surrounded  by  every 
evidence  of  idolatry.  It  is  something  always  to  be  remem¬ 
bered  as  one  of  life’s  sacred  places,  and  the  missionaries  will 
ever  love  to  think  of  Brother  McLean  in  that  scene.  It  was 
difficult  to  realize  that  one  year  ago  those  five  shining-faced 
girls  were  ignorant  beggar  children  running  wild  in  the  vile¬ 
ness  of  a  native  bazaar  with  no  knowledge  of  this  Savior 
they  now  loved.  As  the  company  returned  to  the  bungalow, 
Sitara  ran  up  to  one  of  the  missionaries  with  a  glow  on  her 
face,  and  exclaimed,  “I  love  Jesus,  I  love  you,  I  love  every¬ 
body!”  Is  it  not  just  that?  Loving  Him,  we  must  love 
everybody. 


154 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


There  was  no  gleam  on  the  waters,  the  sun,  as  the  children 
say,  had  gone  to  the  foreign  land — but  the  influence  of  that 
sunset  hour  lives  on  in  Mahoba,  India. 

Ten  years  later,  one  of  our  missionaries  working  in 
a  remote  Hindu  village  one  day  called  at  the  home  of  a 
native  Christian  woman.  The  plain  walls  of  the  little 
cottage  were  unadorned  save  by  one  cheaply  but  care¬ 
fully  framed  picture.  On  examination,  the  astonished 
missionary  discovered  it  to  be  the  picture  of  Mr. 
McLean.  By  questioning  the  woman,  the  missionary 
discovered  that  she  was  one  of  the  group  of  orphan 
girls  whom  the  Sahib  had  baptized  while  in  India,  on 
his  tour  around  the  world.  After  the  baptisms  each  of 
the  girls  had  secured  Mr.  McLean’s  photograph. 
Nothing  in  that  little  Christian  home  in  the  heart  of 
India  was  treasured  more  than  the  picture  of  this  man 
of  God. 

From  Ceylon  Mr.  McLean  went  to  Australia  where 
he  spent  a  month  and  was  kept  busy  speaking  from  the 
time  he  landed  until  he  sailed.  His  visit  did  much  to 
give  the  Australians  a  better  understanding  of  the 
American  churches.  It  also  increased  their  mission¬ 
ary  information  and  gave  them  added  enthusiasm  for 
the  missionary  cause.  They  still  talk  about  his  visit  in 
terms  of  the  highest  appreciation.  Throughout  their 
history  there  has  been  constant  community  of  interest 
between  the  Disciples  in  Australia  and  those  in  Amer¬ 
ica.  Many  of  the  young  men  from  the  Australian 
churches  have  been  educated  in  American  colleges, 
some  to  return  to  their  native  country  and  others  to 
continue  in  the  ministry  in  the  United  States,  where 
some  of  them  found  wives  as  well  as  education. 

Mr.  McLean,  with  his  untiring  energy,  could  not 
understand  a  certain  Englishman  who  had  gone  out  to 
Australia  on  a  preaching  tour.  “  Every  afternoon  he 
had  his  nap.  Before  the  nap  he  had  a  cup  of  tea.  The 


PATH  OF  DUTY  HOMEWARD 


155 


girl  brought  it  after  he  was  on  a  lounge.  He  would 
say  to  her,  ‘Put  in  the  sugar;  now  stir  it  well. ’  She 
did  everything  but  drink  it,  and  she  would  have  done 
that  if  she  had  not  been  a  timid  little  goose.  ’  ’ 

Referring  to  an  English  service  on  shipboard,  con¬ 
ducted  by  the  captain,  he  said,  ‘  ‘  The  service  was  won¬ 
derfully  beautiful.  Its  charmed  words  fell  on  the  ear 
and  were  like  music.  But  I  missed  the  sermon  and  the 
Lord’s  Supper.  We  were  dismissed  before  we  came 
to  the  true  conclusion.  We  went  away  as  from  the  first 
course  at  a  feast.  The  soul’s  thirst  was  unslaked,  its 
hunger  unfed.” 

All  the  time  he  was  on  his  journey,  he  was  thinking 
continually  of  his  friends  at  home  and  gathering  souve¬ 
nirs  to  give  them.  It  was  characteristic  of  this  constant 
thoughtfulness  that  when  in  Melbourne  he  went  out  of 
his  way  to  visit  a  brother  of  Mark  Collis,  then  and  ever 
since  pastor  of  the  Broadway  Church  in  Lexington, 
Kentucky. 

Naturally,  Mr.  McLean  was  deeply  interested  in 
Palestine  and  particularly  in  Jerusalem,  but  they  were 
not  in  the  line  of  his  work  and  so  he  made  only  a  brief 
stay  and  hurried  on  to  Constantinople  to  secure  first¬ 
hand  acquaintance  with  the  mission  among  the  Ar¬ 
menians  there. 

The  path  of  duty  led  him  from  Turkey  to  Den¬ 
mark,  Norway  and  Sweden,  with  brief  stops  at  Athens 
and  Rome.  After  a  short  stay  with  the  missionaries 
in  Scandinavia,  he  went  to  Paris  and  then  through 
England,  stopping  with  the  churches  which  he  had 
visited  eight  years  before.  The  trip  across  the  At¬ 
lantic  was  made  quickly  and  without  event.  Of  his 
satisfaction  in  landing  he  says,  ‘  ‘  One  is  not  on  Ameri¬ 
can  soil  ten  seconds  before  he  feels  that  he  is  in  a  new 
world.  The  atmosphere  is  different;  there  is  more 
ozone  in  it;  the  people  are  different;  there  is  more  life 


156 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


and  push  in  them.  New  York  is  the  greatest  city  I 
saw  on  my  trip.  London  is  larger,  but  London  is  an 
agglomeration  of  villages.”  When  he  reached  Cin¬ 
cinnati  a  number  of  his  friends  were  at  the  station  to 
meet  him,  and  the  home  feeling  was  uppermost  again. 
He  says,  “It  was  pleasant  to  see  their  friendly  faces 
and  to  grasp  their  friendly  hands.  That  evening  I 
went  to  Mt.  Healthy  and  slept  in  my  own  room.” 

At  the  end  of  his  book  he  added  a  chapter  of  impres¬ 
sions,  a  few  of  which  we  repeat  here. 

A  tour  of  the  world  increases  one’s  respect  for  the  peoples 
of  all  lands.  God  has  made  of  one  blood  every  nation  of 
men.  The  most  backward  people  have  all  the  elements  pos¬ 
sessed  by  the  most  advanced.  Let  them  have  the  gospel  for  a 
reasonable  time  and  we  will  not  be  ashamed  to  call  them 
brethren. 

#  #  & 

The  gospel  has  taken  a  firm  hold  of  the  non-Christian  na¬ 
tions.  In  the  nature  of  the  case  it  could  hardly  be  otherwise. 
Schools,  hospitals,  chapels  and  orphanages  have  been  opened. 
In  times  of  famine  and  pestilence  the  afflicted  are  relieved. 
The  Scriptures  have  been  translated.  Great  inventions  have 
been  introduced.  #  *  *  If  all  the  foreigners  were  driven 

out  the  native  Christians  would  take  up  and  carry  on  the 
work  to  completion. 

*  *  #  #  * 

One  rejoices  to  see  the  English  language  is  so  widely 
spread.  *  *  *  This  is  a  hopeful  sign.  One  rejoices,  too, 

to  find  the  English  power  so  widespread.  This  is  no  acci¬ 
dent.  #  #  *  Wherever  England  goes  there  the  Bible 
goes.  *  *  *  There  you  find  peace  and  prosperity. 

It  would  be  a  good  thing  if  some  representatives  (of  the 
society  and  the  churches  at  home)  were  sent  out  every  two 
or  three  years.  They  would  do  the  workers  good.  They 
would  cheer  and  bless  the  native  helpers  and  converts. 
They  would  widen  their  own  vision  and  stimulate  the  work 
at  home. 


IMPRESSIONS  OF  THE  GRAND  TOUR  157 


I  was  sent  out  partly  to  rest  and  partly  to  see  the  work. 
I  saw  the  work;  I  trust  I  shall  get  the  rest  in  the  sweet  by 
and  by.  Several  men  talked  of  going  with  me,  but  all  de¬ 
cided  to  remain  at  home.  The  decision  was  a  wise  one  for 
themselves.  Seeing  missions  is  exhausting  work.  Editing  a 
paper,  managing  a  loan  agency,  conducting  a  large  medical 
practice,  presiding  over  a  college;  all  these  are  a  picnic  in 
comparison.  If  the  men  who  talked  of  going  had  gone,  the 
visit  would  have  been  immeasurably  more  dignified  and  im¬ 
pressive.  The  people  would  have  come  out  and  worshiped  us. 
They  would  have  said,  “The  gods  have  come  down  in  the  like¬ 
ness  of  men.  ’  ’  But  when  they  saw  one  foreign  devil  wearing 
a  Chinese  petticoat  they  smiled  and  went  back  to  their  busi¬ 
ness. 

#  #  *  #  # 

As  a  class  the  missionaries  are  possessed  of  ability,  culture 
and  consecration.  The  same  men  and  women  at  home  would 
fill  high  positions  and  would  command  much  larger  salaries 
than  they  now  receive.  They  are  diligent  and  earnest.  If 
any  lead  easy-going  lives,  they  are  careful  to  conceal  the  fact. 
The  tendency  is  to  work  beyond  their  strength.  With  so 
many  things  to  do  and  so  small  a  staff  they  could  not  avoid 
this,  even  if  they  were  so  inclined.  They  live  much  as  at 
home.  One  sees  comfort  but  no  luxury.  They  need  good 
food  and  comfortable  homes  and  suitable  clothing.  They  live 
in  a  hostile  climate.  The  demands  on  their  physical  nature 
and  on  their  sympathies  are  far  greater  than  at  home.  By 
taking  proper  care  of  themselves  they  live  longer  and  do 
more  than  if  they  stinted  and  starved  themselves.  *  *  * 

Missionaries  must  live  in  comfort  if  they  are  to  do  their  best 
work.  It  is  poor  economy  to  send  out  a  man  and  starve  him, 
and  so  reduce  his  usefulness  one-half.  The  poorest  use  a 
society  can  make  of  a  man  is  to  allow  him  to  die,  when  with 
a  good  home  and  wholesome  food  he  might  be  in  his  glorious 
prime.  If  a  living  dog  is  better  than  a  dead  lion,  much  more 
is  a  living  missionary  better  than  a  dead  one. 

•  #  #  #  # 

The  evangelization  of  the  world  is  a  tremendous  enterprise. 
It  is  the  most  colossal  task  ever  undertaken  by  men.  More 
workers  should  be  sent  out  and  thoroughly  furnished  for  the 
work. 


CHAPTER  XII 


THE  JUBILEE  PERIOD 


NEW  HOME  IN  WALNUT  HILLS — MARKED  ADVANCE  OF  THE  WORK — EN¬ 
TERING  AFRICA — FIRST  ANNUITY  BOND MISSIONARY  RALLIES — DEATH  OF 

MISSIONARIES — THE  CUBAN  MISSION — THE  JUBILEE  CONVENTION. 


ITH  Mr.  McLean’s  return  from  his  journey 


*  *  around  the  world  he  entered  upon  a  period  of 
greatly  increased  power  and  effectiveness.  He  and 
Mr.  Rains  so  divided  the  work  of  the  society  between 
them  that  each  was  able  to  give  his  time  and  strength 
to  that  which  suited  him  best.  Moreover,  Mr. 
McLean’s  fresh  knowledge  of  conditions  and  needs 
in  each  of  the  great  fields  added  what  he  himself  called 
in  the  addresses  of  others  “projectile  force”  to  his 
words.  From  the  first,  and  increasingly,  he  had  been 
a  citizen  of  the  whole  world  but  henceforth  this  cos¬ 
mopolitan  attitude  was  more  manifest. 

The  death  of  Grandmother  Snodgrass  during  Mr. 
McLean’s  absence  necessitated  a  change  in  his  home. 
While  moving  he  decided  to  seek  a  more  convenient 
location.  He  found  this  in  a  residence  district  of  the 
city  which  combined  an  abundance  of  light  and  air 
with  comparative  nearness  to  the  business  district. 

In  removing  to  Walnut  Hills  Mr.  McLean  was  for¬ 
tunate  in  finding  a  home  with  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cusson, 
a  widow  from  Kentucky,  whose  house  and  table  do 
credit  to  the  finest  traditions  of  a  state  famous  for 
good  living.  A  little  later  the  Eden  Apartments  were 
erected  at  2106  Sinton  Avenue,  diagonally  across  from 


158 


NEW  HOME  IN  WALNUT  HILLS 


159 


Mrs.  Cusson’s,  and  right  at  the  edge  of  Eden  Park. 
On  the  first  floor  of  this  building  Mr.  McLean  secured 
an  apartment  of  two  rooms  and  bath  that  exactly  met 
his  requirements.  Here  he  continued  to  live  for 
twenty-two  years,  until  he  moved  to  St.  Louis  in  1920. 
In  the  apartment  building  was  a  restaurant  where  all 
the  tenants  were  required  by  the  terms  of  their  leases 
to  take  their  meals.  In  the  course  of  time  its  service 
became  so  unsatisfactory  that  the  tenants  rebelled  and 
it  was  closed.  Just  before  this  happened  Mr.  McLean 
reached  the  limits  of  his  long-suffering  endurance. 
Meeting  Mrs.  Cusson  on  the  street  one  day,  he  said  in 
his  laconic  fashion,  “I  am  coming  up  to  your  house 
to  eat  tomorrow/  ’  Then  he  went  on  his  way  without 
waiting  for  her  reply.  The  next  morning  he  took  his 
old  place  in  her  dining-room  for  breakfast  and  con¬ 
tinued  to  appear  punctually  for  breakfast  and  dinner 
as  long  as  he  lived  in  Cincinnati. 

As  appears  again  and  again,  he  paid  but  little  re¬ 
gard  to  his  physical  surroundings.  After  he  had  lived 
for  years  in  the  Eden  Apartments,  a  plumber  came 
one  day  to  do  some  work  on  his  gas  grate,  and  was 
informed  that  there  was  no  gas  grate  in  the  room. 
The  plumber  insisted  on  making  an  investigation,  and 
to  Mr.  McLean’s  amazement  discovered  the  grate  hid¬ 
den  behind  a  mass  of  books. 

Occasionally  there  would  be  animated  discussion  at 
Mrs.  Cusson’s  table  on  some  current  or  historical 
topic.  Mr.  McLean  seldom  took  part  in  the  argument 
but  the  next  day  there  would  be  found  lying  on  the 
table  a  neatly  written  and  authoritative  statement  that 
cleared  up  the  whole  question.  Only  the  latest  arrival 
in  the  house  ever  questioned  the  accuracy  or  reliabil¬ 
ity  of  his  decision.  For  a  while  David  Rioch,  Jr., 
worked  at  the  office  of  the  Foreign  Society  and  lived 
at  Mrs.  Cusson’s.  One  of  the  new  boarders  remarked 


160 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


to  him  one  day,  “Mr.  McLean  is  not  much  of  a  talker/ ’ 
David  replied,  “He  talks  freely  enough  when  he  is 
with  anyone  who  knows  as  much  as  he  does.,, 

The  development  of  the  work  of  the  Foreign  Chris¬ 
tian  Missionary  Society  from  1896  to  the  Jubilee 
convention  in  1899  showed  a  marked  advance  over 
previous  years.  The  number  of  missionaries  on  the 
fields  increased  from  81  in  1896  to  108  in  1899.  The 
number  of  contributing  churches  grew  from  2,459 
in  1896  to  3,051  in  1899,  a  figure  that  has  not  been 
greatly  exceeded  since,  because  only  a  few  more 
churches  have  had  regular  preaching.  The  total  re¬ 
ceipts  of  the  society  advanced  from  $93,867.71  in  1896 
to  $152,727.38  in  1899.  The  national  convention  at 
Indianapolis  in  1897  rejoiced  greatly  when  Mr.  Rains 
reported  that  the  goal  of  $100,000  had  been  reached. 
In  the  Indianapolis  convention,  also,  the  Sunday  after¬ 
noon  communion  service,  which  has  been  the  climax 
of  each  succeeding  convention,  was  held  for  the  first 
time.  Not  only  did  the  society  send  out  a  number  of 
new  missionaries  within  this  period  but  it  also  realized 
a  long  cherished  dream  by  entering  the  Belgian  Congo. 

For  a  number  of  years  the  executive  committee 
had  been  contemplating  a  mission  to  Africa.  Finally, 
on  the  4th  of  March,  1897,  Dr.  Harry  N.  Biddle  of 
Cincinnati  and  Ellsworth  Faris  of  Texas,  left  Boston 
for  the  Congo.  Their  first  task  was  to  visit  England 
and  study  the  methods  of  the  different  societies  labor¬ 
ing  in  Africa.  Thence  they  proceeded  via  Paris  and 
Antwerp  to  the  upper  Congo  where  they  spent  over 
a  year  in  exploration.  Constant  travel,  poor  food  and 
exposure  resulted  in  Dr.  Biddle’s  death  before  their 
labors  were  rewarded.  Soon  afterwards  the  American 
Baptist  Missionary  Union  turned  over  to  the  Disciples 
its  station  at  Bolenge  for  $2,500,  half  of  what  it  had 
cost  them.  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Royal  J.  Dye  went  out  in 


MARKED  ADVANCE  OF  THE  WORK  161 


January,  1899,  to  succeed  Dr.  Biddle.  The  purchase 
was  completed  that  year  and  the  mission  definitely  es¬ 
tablished. 

In  1897  the  society  issued  its  first  annuity  bond. 
This  method  of  depositing  a  sum  of  money  with  the 
society  and  receiving  a  bond  guaranteeing  an  annuity 
throughout  the  life  of  the  donor,  and  in  some  instances 
as  long  as  either  of  two  shall  live,  has  proved  increas¬ 
ingly  attractive.  Up  to  the  time  the  United  Christian 
Missionary  Society  was  organized  the  amount  thus 
given  to  the  Foreign  Society  totaled  $855,263.23.  Mr. 
Rains  took  the  lead  in  originating  and  promoting  this 
plan. 

In  this  period  Mr.  McLean  developed  the  foreign 
missionary  rally.  Previously  each  church  had  been 
urged  to  have  a  rally  of  its  own  preceding  the  annual 
March  offering  and  utilizing  home  talent.  This  proved 
effective  wherever  the  churches  made  proper  prepara¬ 
tion,  but  more  expert  presentation  of  the  cause  of  mis¬ 
sions  was  needed  to  fully  arouse  the  people.  Each 
year,  beginning  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  national 
convention  in  October,  and  continuing  until  the  annual 
offering  day,  the  first  Sunday  in  March,  Mr.  McLean 
held  a  series  of  rallies  or  conferences  in  as  many  stra¬ 
tegic  points  as  he  could  reach.  He  threw  himself  into 
this  sort  of  campaigning  with  tremendous  energy. 

Considering  the  number  of  missionaries  employed 
and  the  time  they  had  been  in  the  service  there  was  an 
unusual  number  of  deaths  in  these  four  years.  E.  P. 
Hearnden  of  China,  who  had  gone  out  from  England, 
was  accidentally  drowned  in  1896  when  trying  to  ford 
a  swollen  stream  while  itinerating.  Mrs.  Hearnden 
died  a  few  months  later.  The  next  year  Miss  Hattie 
L.  Judson  of  India  died.  The  death  of  Dr.  Harry  N. 
Biddle  has  been  mentioned.  In  the  same  year  A.  F. 
H.  Saw  of  China  and  C.  E.  Garst  of  Japan  were  taken 


162 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


in  the  midst  of  their  labors.  Each  loss  was  a  severe 
blow  to  Mr.  McLean,  both  because  of  his  personal 
affection  for  the  missionaries  and  his  concern  for  the 
work  in  which  the  laborers  were  already  far  too  few. 
After  he  had  received  the  cablegram  announcing  the 
death  of  Dr.  Biddle,  he  went  in  the  evening  to  the  home 
of  Mr.  Rains  and  sat  for  a  long  time  before  he  could 
bring  himself  to  tell  the  sad  news. 

Following  the  close  of  the  Spanish- American  war 
there  was  naturally  a  movement  among  the  Protestant 
churches  of  the  United  States  to  open  missions  both 
in  Cuba  and  in  the  Philippine  Islands.  Mr.  McLean 
went  to  Cuba  in  1898  to  look  over  the  ground.  In 
Havana  a  man  offered  him  a  cathedral  for  $10,000. 
Later  it  came  out  that  he  not  only  had  no  right  to  sell 
the  building,  but  was  a  criminal  adventurer  whose 
specialty  was  murdering  his  successive  wives  and  col¬ 
lecting  the  insurance  on  their  lives.  It  seemed  that 
he  was  hoping,  since  Mr.  McLean  could  not  speak  the 
Spanish  language,  to  secure  and  escape  with  a  large 
cash  payment.  It  was  only  after  Mr.  McLean  had  re¬ 
turned  to  Cincinnati  that  the  complete  facts  were 
learned. 

The  Cuban  mission  was  opened  in  1899  with  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Lowell  C.  McPherson  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Melvin 
Menges  as  missionaries.  In  1902  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Menges 
removed  from  Havana  to  Matanzas  where  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Roscoe  Hill  joined  them  in  1904.  Owing  prin¬ 
cipally  to  the  difficulty  of  securing  workers  for  a  field 
that  did  not  appeal  to  the  young  people  of  the  churches 
as  really  foreign,  the  mission  was  closed  in  1917. 

During  the  fall  and  winter  of  1899-1900  the  society 
held  Silver  Jubilee  services  throughout  the  country, 
looking  toward  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  its 
organization  in  the  fall  of  1900.  In  1899  it  established 
the  living  link  relationship  by  which  churches  con- 


THE  JUBILEE  CONVENTION 


163 


tributing  as  much  as  $600  per  year  were  assigned  a 
missionary  on  the  foreign  field  with  whom  they  could 
have  direct  correspondence.  Only  nine  churches  up 
to  that  time  had  contributed  as  much  as  $600  each 
within  one  year.  Mr.  McLean  saw  the  day  approach¬ 
ing  when  hundreds  of  churches  would  be  doing  that 
much  and  scores  of  others  ten  times  as  much. 

The  year  1899  marked  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  the 
organization  of  the  American  Christian  Missionary 
Society  and  the  twenty-fourth  of  the  Foreign  Society. 
The  national  convention  was  a  Jubilee  celebration  in 
Music  Hall,  Cincinnati.  The  attendance  was  larger 
than  that  of  any  two  previous  conventions.  In  many 
ways  it  marked  the  definite  committal  of  the  Disciples 
of  Christ  to  the  missionary  cause.  Prior  to  this  the 
advocates  of  an  organized  effort  to  evangelize  the 
whole  world  had  been  on  the  defensive.  The  society’s 
right  to  exist  was  questioned.  There  were  violent  op¬ 
ponents  who  declared  that  it  was  a  sinful  attempt  to 
put  a  human  device  in  the  place  of  a  divine  plan.  They 
appealed  to  the  New  Testament;  out  of  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  Mr.  McLean  and  his  friends  answered  them  with 
a  complete  vindication  of  the  cooperative  missionary 
enterprise.  Henceforth  the  task  was  to  enlist  support. 
He  had  changed  opposition  into  consent  ;  that  must  now 
be  converted  into  cooperation.  Eighteen  years  he  had 
labored  for  this  victory;  all  the  years  that  remained  to 
him  he  gave  to  the  final  issue. 


PART  III 


ENLISTING  COOPERATION 


CHAPTER  XIII 


THE  CENTENNIAL  PERIOD 

PRESIDENT  OF  THE  FOREIGN  SOCIETY — CONSTANTINOPLE  TRIP — PHILIP¬ 
PINES  MISSION  OPENED — SALARY  AND  CONTRIBUTIONS — ANNUAL  BREAKFAST 
FOR  MISSIONARIES - ANNUAL  CONFERENCE — STEPHEN  J.  COREY  ELECTED  SEC¬ 
RETARY - CENTENNIAL  OF  DISCIPLES — DEDICATION  OF  STEAMBOAT  OREGON — 

CAMPBELL  BROCHURES - "MILK  HER  DRY  !” - TIBETAN  MISSION  ESTABLISHED 

— UNIVERSITY  OF  NANKING  INAUGURATED — WORLD  CONFERENCE  AT  EDIN¬ 
BURGH - "HELPING  THE  BRETHREN"” - "WHERE  LIFE  WILL  COUNT" - THE 

CALIFORNIA  GOLD  WATCH. 

T  N  1900  Charles  Louis  Loos,  who  had  succeeded  Isaac 

Errett  as  president  of  the  Foreign  Christian  Mis¬ 
sionary  Society  in  1899,  felt  compelled  on  account  of 
advancing  age  to  resign.  The  resignation  naturally 
started  much  discussion  as  to  who  should  succeed  him. 
This  question  being  raised  in  the  home  of  Dr.  V.  T. 
Lindsay  of  Springfield,  Illinois,  where  Mr.  McLean 
had  been  a  frequent  and  honored  guest,  his  son  Vachel, 
now  world-renowned  as  a  poet,  exclaimed  promptly,  “I 
think  Brother  McLean  is  just  the  man  for  that  place.” 
Others,  all  over  the  continent,  came  to  the  same  con¬ 
clusion  independently.  The  following  convention 
unanimously  elected  Mr.  McLean.  Every  succeeding 
convention  followed  its  example  with  increasing  en¬ 
thusiasm.  This  involved  no  change  in  his  work, 
though  it  added  somewhat  to  his  responsibilities. 

After  Mr.  Lindsay  had  won  such  distinction  that  he 
was  lionized  in  every  city  he  visited,  one  of  the  social 
leaders  of  Cincinnati  gave  a  reception  in  his  honor. 
At  the  head  of  the  short  list  of  particular  friends  that 
Mr.  Lindsay  asked  his  hostess  to  invite  to  the  recep¬ 
tion  was  the  name  of  Archibald  McLean.  His  admira- 


167 


168 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


tion  and  affection  for  the  poet  caused  him  to  accept 
the  invitation.  He  left  his  cares  behind  and  thoroughly 
enjoyed  the  evening.  Indeed  there  was  so  much  of  the 
boy  in  him  that  he  seems  to  have  got  out  of  the  occa¬ 
sion  some  pleasures  that  were  not  on  the  schedule. 
The  gowns  of  some  of  the  guests  at  that  reception  im¬ 
pressed  him  as  stranger  than  anything  he  had  seen  on 
his  circuit  of  the  globe.  When  one  gorgeously  attired 
matron  with  a  particularly  long  “rat  tail”  train 
passed  where  he  was  talking  with  a  friend,  he  observed 
the  spectacle  with  a  quizzical  smile  and  exclaimed  un¬ 
der  his  breath,  “I  would  like  to  step  on  it.”  His 
ability  to  relax  was  more  manifest  during  the  latter 
half  of  his  public  ministry  than  in  his  earlier  years. 
He  not  only  felt  freer  to  express  his  natural  feelings 
but  also  deliberately  sought  opportunities  for  so  doing, 
that  he  might  return  to  his  serious  cares  with  more 
zest  and  power. 

From  the  first  there  were  many  difficulties  in  the  ad¬ 
ministration  of  the  Turkish  mission.  The  Turkish 
government  forbade  work  among  the  Mohammedans. 
This  restricted  missionary  operations  to  the  Armenian 
population.  Until  the  society  sent  out  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
John  Johnson  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  L.  Chapman  in 
1897  and  1898  the  only  missionaries  had  been  Arme¬ 
nians.  The  chief  of  these  was  G.  N.  Shishmanian,  who 
had  got  both  his  education  and  his  wife  in  the  United 
States.  A  crisis  having  arisen  in  the  Turkish  work, 
Mr.  McLean  appeared  at  the  office  one  day  in  July, 
1900,  with  his  traveling  bag  and  remarked  quietly,  ‘  ‘  I 
am  going  to  Turkey.  ’  ’  He  made  the  trip,  straightened 
out  the  tangle  and  returned  to  the  office  with  as  little 
ado  as  he  had  made  about  leaving. 

In  the  summer  of  1901  the  society  sent  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
W.  H.  Hanna  to  the  Philippine  Islands.  Before  Christ¬ 
inas  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hermon  P.  Williams  joined  them  in 


SALARY  AND  CONTRIBUTIONS 


m 

Manila.  A  year  later  the  four  missionaries  moved  to 
Laoag,  in  the  northwestern  part  of  the  island  of  Luzon, 
where  no  other  Protestant  missionaries  were  then  lo¬ 
cated.  In  1904  a  station  was  opened  at  Vigan  and 
native  workers  established  a  church  at  Aparri,  over 
the  mountains  to  the  east.  The  work  has  prospered 
greatly  both  in  the  north  and  in  Manila,  where  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  B.  L.  Kershner,  in  1905,  took  up  the  task  laid 
down  by  Hanna  and  Williams  in  January,  1903. 

In  the  minutes  of  the  executive  committee  of  Au¬ 
gust  23,  1901,  it  is  recorded  that  on  the  request  of 
Mr.  Rains  and  Mr.  McLean  their  salaries  were  placed 
at  $2,500  and  $2,400,  respectively,  instead  of  the 
$2,700  each,  which  the  executive  committee  had  pre¬ 
viously  voted.  This  is  only  one  of  the  many  instances 
in  which  he  prevented  an  increase  in  his  salary.  Much 
of  even  the  smaller  figure  which  he  permitted  to  be 
voted,  was  never  actually  accepted  from  the  treasurer. 
Even  after  the  war-time  advance  in  the  cost  of  living 
and  the  removal  to  St.  Louis  where  his  expenses  were 
much  higher  than  they  had  been  in  Cincinnati,  he  re¬ 
fused  to  accept  more  than  $200  a  month  of  the  $366.66 
which  the  executive  committee  of  the  United  Society 
had  provided.  Out  of  what  he  did  receive  he  gave  to 
the  local  church,  and  to  missions,  benevolence  and  edu¬ 
cation  fully  half  of  that  which  passed  through  his 
hands.  An  example  of  the  measure  of  his  giving  is 
seen  in  his  pledge  of  $2,500  to  the  Men  and  Millions 
Movement,  all  but  $500  of  which  he  had  paid  before 
his  death. 

S.  M.  Cooper  had  been  financial  secretary  of  Beth¬ 
any  College  when  Mr.  McLean  was  president.  He  was 
now  doing  a  large  real  estate  business  in  Cincinnati 
and  serving  on  the  executive  committee  of  the  For¬ 
eign  Society  and  as  its  treasurer.  On  his  advice  Mr. 
McLean  took  some  stock  in  a  building  and  loan  asso- 


170 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


ciation,  through  which  he  gradually  acquired  several 
pieces  of  property.  At  the  same  time  he  carried  an 
endowment  life  insurance  policy.  The  purpose  of  each 
of  these  forms  of  investment  was  to  provide  a  modest 
fund  for  old  age  or  disability,  not  for  his  own  com¬ 
fort  but  to  avoid  becoming  a  charge  upon  others.  In 
the  same  way  he  invested  some  of  his  savings  in  an 
industrial  enterprise  in  which  a  number  of  church 
friends  were  interested.  Some  time  later  one  of  these 
told  him  that  the  business  was  in  financial  straits  and 
advised  him  to  sell  his  stock.  “Do  you  think  it  is 
going  to  fail?”  asked  Mr.  McLean.  “Yes,  I  am  sure 
of  it.”  “And  the  stock  will  become  worthless!” 
“Yes.”  “Then  I  will  keep  it.  I  have  no  right  to 
saddle  my  loss  upon  someone  else.” 

When  a  financial  crisis  threw  the  society  into  seri¬ 
ous  difficulties,  S.  J.  Corey,  who  had  become  a  secre¬ 
tary  in  the  year  1905,  went  into  the  office  of  Mr. 
Rains  one  day  and  met  Mr.  McLean  coming  out.  With 
tears  in  his  eyes  Mr.  Rains  showed  the  younger  secre¬ 
tary  a  check  for  $4,000,  the  entire  proceeds  of  his  en¬ 
dowment  life  insurance  policy  which  Mr.  McLean  had 
just  turned  over  to  the  society  with  the  request  that 
his  name  should  not  appear  in  connection  with  the 
gift.  In  a  later  crisis  the  officers  reduced  their  own 
salaries  and  then  it  became  necessary  to  cut  down  the 
salaries  of  the  missionaries  ten  per  cent.  Mr.  McLean 
was  greatly  troubled  over  this.  The  executive  com¬ 
mittee  hoped  to  restore  the  salaries  after  a  few 
months,  but  he  could  not  wait.  He  sold  a  house  and 
lot  for  $7,000  and  turned  the  entire  proceeds  into  the 
treasury  of  the  society  that  the  missionaries  ’  salaries, 
including  the  suspended  back  pay,  might  be  paid  in 
full  at  once.  He  was  continually  giving  to  every 
worthy  cause  in  addition  to  the  Foreign  Society  and 
the  local  church  which  naturally  received  the  major 


ANNUAL  CONFERENCE 


171 


part  of  his  offerings.  He  frequently  told  the  story  of 
his  friend  Timothy  Coop  of  England.  Some  one  in¬ 
quired,  “Mr.  Coop,  how  can  you  afford  to  give  so 
much?”  and  was  answered  promptly,  “It  is  a  very 
simple  matter.  I  shovel  out  and  the  Lord  shovels  in. 
But  the  Lord  has  a  larger  shovel  than  I  have.”  Mr. 
McLean’s  own  affairs  illustrated  the  same  principle. 
Before  leaving  Cincinnati  he  found  himself  in  posses¬ 
sion  of  three  pieces  of  property;  one  he  sold  and  gave 
the  proceeds  to  the  Foreign  Society  on  the  annuity 
plan;  the  second  he  deeded  to  the  society  subject  to  his 
life  estate;  the  third,  worth  between  six  and  seven 
thousand  dollars,  he  had  not  disposed  of  at  the  time  of 
his  death.  In  five  known  gifts  he  had  consecrated 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars  to  Christian  service,  in 
addition  to  contributing  regularly  about  half  of  his 
income.  Except  in  rare  special  instances  he  never 
allowed  his  name  to  appear  with  his  gifts. 

An  interesting  example  of  the  way  one  thing  grows 
out  of  another  appears  in  the  development  of  the  an¬ 
nual  conference  of  missionaries.  Mr.  McLean  and  Mr. 
Rains  gave  a  dinner  to  the  missionaries  and  their  fam¬ 
ilies  at  the  Omaha  convention  in  1902.  This  proved 
such  a  delightful  affair  that  they  repeated  it  annually 
as  a  breakfast  on  Sunday  morning  of  convention  week. 
After  a  while  it  included  the  officers  and  missionaries 
of  the  Christian  Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  and  a 
few  special  friends  of  the  missionaries.  These  din¬ 
ner  and  breakfast  meetings  were  so  helpful  that  it  was 
felt  wise  to  bring  the  same  group  together  for  a  more 
extended  conference.  So  in  1904  the  executive  com¬ 
mittee,  the  missionaries  on  furlough  and  the  newly 
appointed  missionaries  held  a  conference  in  which 
they  discussed  many  phases  of  the  work  and  got  bet¬ 
ter  acquainted  with  one  another.  The  program  of  this 
first  conference,  which  was  held  June  1,  2,  1904,  shows 


172 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


that  seventeen  missionaries  were  present,  and  affords 
several  sorts  of  biographical  side-lights.  At  the  same 
time  it  reveals  the  great  care  with  which  the  meeting 
was  planned.  But  little  change  has  been  made  in  the 
scope  of  these  annual  conferences. 


Wednesday : 

Devotional — Prayer,  A.  M.  Harvuot 

Address  of  Welcome,  Mattie  Boteler 

The  Missionary  Calling,  C.  L.  Loos 

Discussion,  led  by  W.  P.  Bentley 

The  Distinctive  Aim  of  the  Missionary,  F.  M. 
Rains 

Discussion,  led  by  Frank  Garrett 

Afternoon : 

Devotional — Faith,  J.  N.  Green 

The  Devotional  Life  of  the  Missionary,  W.  E. 
Garrison 

Discussion,  led  by  S.  M.  Cooper 

The  Spiritual  Life  of  the  Missionary,  I.  J. 
Spencer 

Discussion,  led  by  P.  Y.  Pendleton 

Evening : 

Dinner  and  social  time  at  the  home  of  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  F.  M.  Rains 

Thursday : 

Devotional — Love,  D.  E.  Dannenburg 

The  Missionaries  in  their  Relation  to  Each 
Other  and  to  the  Society,  A.  McLean. 
Discussion,  led  by  Bertha  Clawson 

Lessons  of  Seventeen  Years  as  a  Missionary, 
G.  L.  Wharton 

Discussion,  led  by  Mrs.  E.  A.  Layton 

Afternoon : 

Devotional — The  Life  Hid  with  Christ  in  God, 
C.  S.  Settlemeyer 

The  Missionary’s  Care  of  Himself,  Dr.  P.  T. 
Kilgour 

Discussion,  led  by  Dr.  E.  A.  Layton 

The  Assured  Success  of  Foreign  Missions,  J. 
A.  Lord 

Discussion,  led  by  W.  F.  Smith 

Evening : 

Public  reception  at  Central  Christian  Church 

After  the  establishment  of  the  College  of  Missions 
the  Foreign  Society  and  the  Christian  Woman’s  Board 


S.  J.  COREY  APPOINTED  SECRETARY  173 


of  Missions  took  another  step  toward  closer  coopera¬ 
tion  by  making  the  annual  conference  a  joint  meeting 
of  the  officers  and  missionaries  of  the  two  boards. 
These  conferences  have  grown  in  effectiveness  from 
year  to  year  and  have  occupied  the  two  or  three  days 
immediately  following  the  commencement  at  the  Col¬ 
lege  of  Missions.  Each  of  these  meetings  was  an  event 
of  great  moment  to  Mr.  McLean.  He  appreciated  the 
large  contribution  which  they  made  to  the  happiness 
and  efficiency  of  the  missionaries.  He  found  great  joy 
and  satisfaction  in  the  fellowship  of  this  inner  circle 
gathered  from  many  and  distant  lands  and  going  out 
to  the  most  difficult  fields  in  prosecution  of  the  com¬ 
mon  task.  No  patriarchal  head  of  a  numerous  family 
ever  had  greater  delight  in  the  reunion  of  his  chil¬ 
dren,  grandchildren  and  great-grandchildren  than  Mr. 
McLean  experienced  in  this  annual  reunion  of  the  mis¬ 
sionary  household.  At  the  same  time  his  presence 
and  participation  were  always  modest  and  unobtrusive. 

In  March,  1905,  the  executive  committee  appointed 
Stephen  J.  Corey  as  secretary  of  the  Foreign  Society. 
He  had  won  his  spurs  as  secretary  of  the  New  York 
Christian  Missionary  Society.  The  mettle  of  the  man 
had  been  proved  when  he  walked  seventy-five  miles 
from  his  home  in  southern  Missouri  to  take  a  train 
that  would  carry  him  to  college.  The  president  and 
senior  secretary  found  him  a  comrade  upon  whom  they 
could  always  rely  and  in  whose  fellowship  they  could 
constantly  rejoice. 

From  the  first  proposal,  at  the  Minneapolis  conven¬ 
tion  in  1901,  that  the  Disciples  of  Christ  should  cele¬ 
brate  their  Centennial  in  1909,  on  the  one-hundredth 
anniversary  of  the  publication  of  Thomas  Campbell’s 
Declaration  and  Address ,  Mr.  McLean  took  deep  in¬ 
terest  in  everything  relating  to  the  event.  He  served 
on  the  Centennial  committee  from  the  first  and  was 


174 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


especially  concerned  that  the  Centennial  convention 
should  be  preceded  by  the  realization  of  the  Centen¬ 
nial  aims.  These  were  such  attainments  in  the  indi¬ 
vidual  lives  of  the  people,  the  development  of  the  lo¬ 
cal  churches  and  the  advancement  of  missionary, 
benevolent  and  educational  enterprises  as  would  in 
some  measure  justify  the  hundred  years  of  history  and 
the  celebration.  To  promote  these  Centennial  aims  the 
committee  organized  a  four  years’  campaign,  opened 
an  office  in  Pittsburgh  where  the  convention  of  1909 
was  to  be  held,  and  employed  a  secretary  to  devote 
his  entire  time  to  the  campaign.  In  an  early  meeting 
of  the  committee  Mr.  McLean  declared  that  “the  Cen¬ 
tennial  secretary  should  have  a  full  hand  and  a  free 
hand.”  All  of  the  national  boards  of  the  Disciples  of 
Christ  promptly  made  appropriations  toward  the  ex¬ 
penses  of  the  campaign,  and  within  a  short  while  most 
of  the  state  societies  and  colleges  followed  their  ex¬ 
ample.  This  may  be  called  the  first  practical  step  in 
the  increasing  cooperation  of  the  boards  which  cul¬ 
minated  in  the  complete  union  of  six  societies  in  the 
United  Christian  Missionary  Society. 

The  Centennial  convention  met  October  11-19,  1909, 
in  a  group  of  buildings  centering  in  Carnegie  Institute, 
Pittsburgh.  First  and  last  over  thirty  thousand  peo¬ 
ple  were  present.  All  of  the  meetings  except  the  great 
communion  service  of  Sunday  afternoon  were  held  in 
from  three  to  five  parallel  sessions.  Three  to  five  dif¬ 
ferent  speakers  delivered  addresses  on  each  theme. 
The  extensive  exhibits  of  the  societies  formed  a  mis¬ 
sionary  museum  in  a  large  section  of  the  Carnegie  In¬ 
stitute.  Gratifying  reports  from  all  fields  and  de¬ 
partments  and  inspiring  addresses  on  the  history  and 
principles  of  the  Restoration  movement  and  the  vari¬ 
ous  phases  of  its  work  at  the  end  of  a  hundred  years 
filled  the  week.  The  fraternal  addresses  delivered  by 


CENTENNIAL  OF  DISCIPLES 


175 


representatives  of  several  of  the  leading  Protestant 
bodies  of  North  America  demonstrated  the  progress 
made  toward  Christian  union. 

After  a  cloudy  and  rainy  week  the  skies  cleared  for 
Sunday.  At  the  regular  church  services  of  city  and 
suburbs  two  hundred  and  fifty  convention  preachers, 
not  otherwise  on  the  program,  presented  the  message 
of  the  convention  as  each  conceived  it.  In  the  after¬ 
noon  the  hosts  assembled  for  the  Lord’s  Supper. 
Forbes  Field,  the  new  base  ball  park  of  the  city,  with 
its  steel  and  concrete  grandstands  and  bleachers,  look¬ 
ing  out  over  the  rolling  hills  of  Schenley  Park,  pro¬ 
vided  a  perfect  amphitheater  for  the  occasion.  Here, 
within  the  week,  part  of  the  annual  world  champion¬ 
ship  series  of  games  had  been  played,  but  the  quiet¬ 
ness  and  reverence  with  which  the  people  assembled 
and  observed  the  memorial  ordinance  could  not  have 
been  excelled  in  a  carpeted  chapel  seating  a  hundred 
persons.  A  printed  order  of  service  was  in  the  hands 
of  every  person  present.  This  included  the  Scripture 
passages,  songs  and  prayers.  Mr.  McLean  had  writ¬ 
ten  one  of  the  prayers  and  J.  W.  McGarvey,  the  vet¬ 
eran  president  of  the  College  of  the  Bible  at  Lexington, 
Kentucky,  had  prepared  the  other.  The  thirty  thou¬ 
sand  worshipers  read  and  sang  as  one  and  each  felt 
an  overwhelming  sense  both  of  the  divine  presence  and 
of  unity  and  fellowship  among  the  communicants. 

Of  all  the  important  features  of  the  Centennial  con¬ 
vention  nothing  concerned  Mr.  McLean  more  than  the 
dedication  of  the  steamer  Oregon.  This  came  at  the 
close  of  the  Foreign  Society’s  day,  Wednesday,  Octo¬ 
ber  13,  just  as  the  sun  was  setting.  The  service  was 
held  in  the  shipyards  of  James  Rees  and  Sons  Com¬ 
pany  on  the  bank  of  the  Allegheny  River  in  the  down¬ 
town  district.  The  halls  of  the  convention  were  three 
miles  away  at  the  main  entrance  to  Schenley  Park, 


176 


ARCHIBALD  MoLEAN 


but  six  thousand  people  made  their  way  downtown  to 
take  part  in  the  unique  exercises. 

The  Oregon  was  built  of  steel  on  plans  tested  by  the 
builders  in  their  years  of  experience  in  constructing 
steamers  for  river  navigation.  She  is  seventy-five  feet 
long  and  eighteen  feet  wide.  She  cost  $14,000,  after 
the  builders  had  donated  one-tenth  of  their  estimate. 
The  people  of  the  state  of  Oregon  provided  nearly  all 
of  the  money.  The  principal  exceptions  were  two  gifts 
of  $1,000  each  from  A.  A.  Hyde,  a  Presbyterian,  and 
I.  W.  Gill,  both  of  Wichita,  Kansas.  After  the  boat 
was  built  it  had  to  be  taken  apart,  crated  and  shipped 
to  Kinshasa,  where  R.  S.  Wilson  and  E.  R.  Moon  re¬ 
built  it.  The  English  Baptists  generously  donated  the 
use  of  their  ways  for  the  purpose.  The  people  who 
witnessed  the  dedication  provided  nearly  all  of  the 
cost  of  transporting  the  boat  to  Africa.  The  dedicat¬ 
ing  party  and  many  of  the  delegates  stood  on  the  deck 
of  the  vessel,  which  was  fairly  deluged  with  dollars  at 
the  final  call  for  money  to  pay  the  cost  of  transporta¬ 
tion.  Mr.  Rains,  who  had  dedicated  more  churches 
than  any  other  minister  among  the  Disciples  of  Christ, 
had  charge  of  the  service. 

The  Oregon  left  Kinshasa  on  her  first  trip  up  the 
Congo,  October  25,  1910.  In  the  twelve  years  of  her 
service  she  has  more  than  justified  the  highest  hopes. 
The  first  year  she  steamed  9,810  miles  and  earned 
$1,676.60  by  carrying  freight  for  other  missions.  The 
mission  has  been  offered  $40,000  for  the  Oregon.  Her 
original  cost,  including  transportation  and  rebuilding, 
was  $24,000.  She  is  now  used  exclusively  for  evan¬ 
gelistic  purposes,  as  it  is  found  more  profitable  to  have 
freight  carried  by  the  state  boats.  She  is  a  floating 
mission  station.  The  missionary  in  charge  and  his 
family  live  on  the  boat  throughout  the  year.  4 ‘They 
go  from  place  to  place  and  look  after  the  work  that 


THE  CAMPBELL  BROCHURES 


177 


is  being  done.  They  carry  mail  and  supplies  to  the 
different  stations.  They  take  the  inquirers  to  the  sta¬ 
tions  and  back  again.  They  visit  new  places  and  give 
the  people  a  knowledge  of  Christ.” 

Preceding  the  Centennial  convention  at  Pittsburgh, 
Mr.  McLean  made  a  careful  study  of  the  history  of 
the  Disciples  of  Christ  and  especially  of  the  origin  of 
the  Restoration  movement.  Out  of  his  study  grew  two 
lectures,  on  Alexander  Campbell  as  a  Preacher^  and 
Thomas  and  Alexander  Campbell.  Those  who  heard 
these  lectures  were  insistent  that  he  should  publish 
them.  He  finally  brought  them  out  at  his  own  expense 
as  two  monographs.  The  first  record  of  the  lecture 
on  Alexander  Campbell  as  a  Preacher  is  that  it  was 
delivered  at  Hiram,  Ohio,  May  17,  1904.  Mr.  McLean 
had  preached  in  the  Hiram  church  the  preceding  Sun¬ 
day.  No  attempt  was  made  to  sell  the  Thomas  and 
Alexander  Campbell ,  but  he  presented  copies  of  it  to 
such  of  his  friends  as  he  felt  would  appreciate  it,  and 
gave  each  of  the  colleges  as  many  copies  as  it  could 
distribute  to  advantage  among  its  students. 

In  Alexander  Campbell  as  a  Preacher  the  author 
speaks  of  the  irreparable  loss  to  humanity  in  the  fail¬ 
ure  to  preserve  more  than  one  or  two  of  Alexander 
CampbelPs  sermons.  His  debates  were  taken  down  in 
shorthand  and  published.  He  gave  his  views  on  every 
sort  of  religious  subject  in  the  magazine  which  he 
edited,  but  he  was  even  more  eminent  as  a  preacher 
than  as  a  debater  or  editor.  It  seems  never  to  have  oc¬ 
curred  to  him  or  to  his  friends  to  preserve  the  sermons 
which  enthralled  the  minds  of  many  of  the  most  dis¬ 
tinguished  men  of  his  day. 

In  his  little  book  Mr.  McLean  sought  to  correct  this 
failure  as  far  as  possible  by  gathering  up  all  that 
could  be  learned  from  trustworthy  sources  regarding 
the  preaching  of  Mr.  Campbell.  In  his  book  on  Thomas 


178 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


and  Alexander  Campbell  he  speaks  with  admiration 
but  also  with  discrimination.  He  emphasizes  the 
greatness  of  the  father  whose  fame  had  been  over¬ 
shadowed  by  that  of  the  son.  He  gives  what  must  be 
accepted  as  an  able  if  not  a  final  interpretation  of  the 
life  and  work  of  each  in  relation  not  only  to  the  move¬ 
ment  which  they  inaugurated  but  also  to  the  Kingdom 
of  God  as  a  whole. 

In  the  period  leading  up  to  the  Centennial  the  min¬ 
isters  and  others  complained  about  the  numerous  and 
sometimes  conflicting  calls  from  the  different  societies 
for  offerings  and  for  the  observance  of  certain  days 
in  the  churches,  Sunday  schools  and  Christian  En¬ 
deavor  societies.  Some  of  the  churches  thought  they 
had  found  the  solution  of  the  problem  in  the  “Omnibus 
Offering,”  which  they  made  just  once  in  the  year  to 
provide  for  all  causes  in  which  the  congregation 
wished  to  have  fellowship.  At  the  New  York  state 
convention  one  of  the  ministers  urged  in  favor  of  the 
omnibus  offering  that  the  frequent  calls  then  being 
made  were  a  menace  to  the  benevolent  spirit  of  the 
people.  “When  I  was  a  boy/’  he  said,  illustrating  his 
point,  “my  father  gave  me  a  cow.  I  was  just  learning 
to  milk  and  the  process  was  so  interesting  that  several 
times  a  day  I  took  a  tin  cup  and  ran  down  to  the  pas¬ 
ture.  The  cow  was  patient,  but  when  my  father  dis¬ 
covered  what  I  was  doing  he  quickly  stopped  me,  for 
he  said  that  was  the  surest  way  to  dry  up  a  cow.  And 
so  it  is  with  these  oft-repeated  calls  for  money.  They 
are  going  to  dry  up  the  benevolent  spirit  of  the 
brotherhood.  ’  ’ 

He  sat  down  amid  quite  a  bit  of  applause.  But  the 
people  had  not  ceased  clapping  their  hands  before  Mr. 
McLean  was  on  his  feet.  “About  that  cow,”  he  said, 
driving  back  his  front  hair  and  jerking  up  his  collar 
with  energy,  “I  also  was  reared  on  a  farm  and  I  was 


TIBETAN  MISSION  ESTABLISHED  179 


taught  to  milk.  I  was  taught  that  we  must  milk  a  cow 
twice  a  day,  milk  her  regularly  and  milk  her  d-r-y!” 
No  one  had  a  chance  at  the  floor  for  several  minutes 
because  of  the  repeated  rolls  of  laughter  and  applause. 
Even  during  the  following  afternoon  in  the  midst  of  an 
address  on  a  totally  different  subject,  someone  would 
suddenly  chuckle,  ‘ 4 Milk  her  d-r-y,”  and  the  audience 
would  break  out  again.  The  omnibus  offering  was  not 
generally  adopted  and  the  excuse  for  it  passed  a  few 
years  later  with  the  introduction  of  the  missionary 
budget  and  the  every-member  canvass. 

The  last,  most  remote  and  hazardous  mission  opened 
by  the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society  is  on  the 
southeastern  border  of  Tibet  in  the  city  of  Batang. 
It  is  in  the  Chinese  province  of  Cze-chuen  with  Tibet 
proper  lying  just  across  the  Yangtse  River.  The  popu¬ 
lation  of  Batang  and  the  surrounding  country  is  Tib¬ 
etan  and  in  constant  revolt  against  the  loosely  asserted 
authority  of  China.  The  mountainous  character  of 
the  region  conduces  further  to  its  lawlessness.  Petrus 
Rijnhart,  the  forerunner  of  the  mission,  was  murdered 
in  this  district  after  he  had  worked  peacefully  in  north¬ 
eastern  Tibet  for  several  years.  His  widow,  who  be¬ 
fore  her  marriage  was  Dr.  Susie  Carson  of  Canada, 
escaped  miraculously  and  so  stirred  the  international 
convention  of  Disciples  with  her  plea  for  the  land 
where  her  babe  as  well  as  her  husband  lay  dead,  that 
the  Foreign  Society  commissioned  Dr.  and  Mrs. 
A.  L.  Shelton  to  return  with  her  on  the  way  by  which 
she  had  come  out,  and  undertake  to  break  through  the 
manifold  barriers  that  have  always  shut  off  Tibet  from 
the  rest  of  the  world.  After  six  months  on  the  way 
from  San  Francisco  they  located  at  Tachienlu  in  1904. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  C.  Ogden  joined  them  two  years  later 
and  the  two  men  discovered  the  more  strategic  loca¬ 
tion  at  Batang,  five  hundred  miles  (eighteen  days’ 


180 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


journey)  further  west.  To  this  point  the  mission 
moved  in  1908  and  opened  its  battle  against  ignorance, 
filth,  superstition,  vice  and  cruelty.  They  knew  that 
the  cost  would  be  heavy  in  life  as  well  as  in  money  and 
comfort.  Dr.  Rijnliart  never  fully  recovered  from  her 
terrible  experiences.  Failing  health  compelled  her  to 
give  up  the  work  in  1906.  Later  she  returned  to  her 
native  land,  with  James  Moyes,  whom  she  had  married 
in  1905,  and  there  she  died  in  1908. 

The  death  of  a  missionary  was  always  deeply  felt 
by  Mr.  McLean.  When  word  came  that  Dr.  Zenas  S. 
Loftis,  a  young  physician  of  special  promise,  had  died 
only  a  month  after  the  close  of  the  long  and  perilous 
journey  which  had  taken  him  to  Tibet  for  the  reen¬ 
forcement  of  the  hard  pressed  workers  there,  he  was 
especially  moved.  He  expressed  a  little  of  this  pro¬ 
found  feeling  by  devoting  a  chapter  to  him  in  his  book, 
Epoch  Makers  of  Modern  Missions,  as  well  as  by  writ¬ 
ing  the  following  letter  to  the  mother  of  Dr.  Loftis. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  August  16,  1909. 

Mrs.  N.  E.  Noble, 

Rogers,  Texas 
My  dear  Madam: 

If  I  am  correctly  informed  you  are  the  mother  of  Dr.  Z.  S. 
Loftis.  It  is  on  this  assumption  that  I  am  writing  to  you 
at  this  time.  I  deeply  regret  that  I  am  the  bearer  of  evil 
tidings,  or  what  may  appear  for  the  moment  to  be  such. 

A  cablegram  informs  us  that  Dr.  Loftis  died  of  smallpox 
and  typhus.  There  are  no  details.  It  is  evident  that  he 
reached  his  destination  before  the  end  came.  He  passed  out 
into  the  life  that  is  life  indeed  surrounded  by  friends  who 
had  long  looked  and  waited  for  his  coming.  They  are  dis¬ 
consolate;  so  are  we. 

We  know  how  you  must  feel.  Our  sympathies  go  out  to 
you  and  to  all  who  are  near  and  dear  to  you.  We  would  com¬ 
mend  you  to  G-od  and  to  the  word  of  his  grace  which  is  able 
to  build  you  up  and  to  give  you  an  inheritance  among  all 
of  them  that  are  sanctified  by  faith  in  Christ  Jesus. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  NANKING 


181 


Dr.  Loftis  did  what  he  could.  He  gave  his  life  and  his  all 
for  the  most  difficult  station  in  the  world.  All  the  way  along 
he  wrote  of  his  joy  in  the  service  of  the  King.  His  conse¬ 
cration  will  be  a  perpetual  challenge  to  hundreds  of  others 
to  awake  and  do  the  best  that  is  in  them.  He  has  not  lived 
or  died  in  vain. 

We  pray  the  God  of  all  comfort  and  grace  to  deal  kindly 
with  you  and  all  dear  to  you  in  this  time  of  sore  trial. 

Your  son  left  an  insurance  policy  with  us.  It  is  payable 
to  you.  Certain  certificates  must  be  produced  before  the 
policy  can  be  paid. 

Most  truly  your  brother  in  sorrow, 

A.  McLean. 

An  event  of  far-reaching  importance  that  engrossed 
Mr.  McLean  in  the  Centennial  year  was  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  Nanking  University  in  China,  by  the  combina¬ 
tion  of  Union  Christian  College  and  the  Methodist  Col¬ 
lege.  In  the  formation  of  this  the  Disciples  of  Christ, 
the  Methodists  and  the  Presbyterians  participated. 
In  the  previous  year  the  Bible  College  had  been  inau¬ 
gurated,  out  of  which  grew  the  Nanking  School  of  The¬ 
ology  in  which  five  missions  cooperate,  with  the  pat¬ 
ronage  of  four  others.  From  the  beginning  Mr.  Mc¬ 
Lean  was  a  member  of  the  executive  committee  of  the 
University  of  Nanking,  which  holds  a  charter  from 
the  State  of  New  York  and  has  its  degrees  conferred 
by  the  Regents  of  the  University  of  New  York. 

In  1910  Mr.  McLean  attended  the  World  Missionary 
Conference.  Reporting  it  in  the  Missiotuiry  Intelli¬ 
gencer  ,  he  said : 

The  conference  was  held  in  Edinburgh,  June  14  to  24.  The 
Assembly  Hall  stands  on  a  mound  where  once  pagan  sacri¬ 
fices  were  offered.  The  Galilean  has  conquered  and  is  con¬ 
quering.  The  delegates  represented  one  hundred  and  sixty 
missionary  organizations.  All  Christian  nations  and  almost 
all  mission  fields  were  represented.  All  wings  of  Protestant¬ 
ism,  from  the  High  Churchmen  who  call  themselves  Anglo- 
Catholics,  to  the  Plymouth  Brethren,  sent  delegates  to  the 


182 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


conference.  The  hope  that  in  future  conferences  the  Catholic 
and  Greek  churches  would  participate  was  expressed  by  some 
of  the  speakers.  Only  then  could  a  conference  call  itself 
*  *  ecumenical. ’  ’ 

The  reports  and  discussions  made  it  apparent  that  the 
church  never  before  faced  such  a  combination  of  oppor¬ 
tunities  among  both  cultured  and  primitive  peoples  as  now. 
This  fact  calls  for  a  great  enlargement  of  effort  on  the  part 
of  the  churches.  Our  God  is  going  before  his  people  and  is 
calling  upon  them  to  enter  the  doors  he  is  opening.  This 
providential  opening  of  doors  closed  for  centuries  creates  a 
new  responsibility.  Men  in  sufficient  numbers  and  the  ablest 
men  should  be  sent  out  without  delay. 

Though  this  was  a  missionary  conference,  the  one  note  that 
was  sounded  most  frequently  was  the  need  of  union.  Nearly 
every  speaker  alluded  to  the  loss  incurred  by  our  unhappy 
divisions.  Missionaries  from  the  fields  begged  the  churches 
at  home  not  to  attempt  to  hinder  the  answering  of  our  Lord’s 
prayer  for  the  oneness  of  his  followers.  To  one  group  of  dele¬ 
gates  this  was  *  ‘  an  old  familiar  strain.  ’ ’  The  cause  of  union 
was  mightily  helped  by  this  conference.  Lord  Balfour  ex¬ 
pressed  regret  that  there  were  so  many  missionary  organiza¬ 
tions  in  existence.  At  the  same  time  he  was  thankful  that  if 
we  are  separated  in  some  respects  we  are  drawing  together 
now  as  never  before  in  the  prosecution  of  the  enterprise  in 
which  we  are  all  interested.  Dr.  Mott  gave  expression  to  his 
conviction  that  if  all  the  forces  on  the  field  could  be  united  in 
heart  and  soul  that  would  be  equal  in  effect  to  the  doubling 
of  the  missionary  staff. 

While  all  were  in  favor  of  union,  nothing  in  the  way  of 
a  program  was  suggested.  The  need  of  union  was  empha¬ 
sized  ;  but  nothing  was  said  as  to  any  practical  measure  look¬ 
ing  to  union.  Nearly  all  the  speakers  felt  that  their  convic¬ 
tions  must  be  safeguarded.  One  man  said  that  our  convic¬ 
tions  were  not  a  standard  of  right  or  truth;  often  our  con¬ 
victions  were  nothing  more  than  crystallized  prejudices.  Any 
convictions  that  stand  in  the  way  of  the  answer  to  our  Lord’s 
prayer  for  unity  should  be  examined  at  the  foot  of  the  cross. 
The  Edinburgh  conference  was  possible  because  it  was  agreed 
that  certain  matters  should  not  be  discussed.  At  the  next 
conference  it  is  hoped  that  the  differences  will  be  frankly 
faced.  Until  that  is  done  union  is  postponed. 


THE  EDINBURGH  CONFERENCE  183 


The  greatest  thing  about  the  Edinburgh  conference  was 
the  conference  itself.  The  reports  of  the  commissions  are 
great  documents.  Many  of  the  delegates  are  men  prominent 
in  state  and  church,  in  business  and  literature,  in  all  walks 
of  life.  Many  memorable  things  were  said  by  the  speakers. 
But  that  which  those  who  were  present  will  remember  long¬ 
est  will  be  the  conference  itself.  That  was  a  sublime  spec¬ 
tacle.  No  wonder  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  was  moved 
to  say  that  it  had  no  parallel  in  this  or  in  other  lands,  and 
to  express  the  hope  that  there  were  some  standing  there  who 
would  not  taste  death  till  they  saw  the  Kingdom  of  God  com¬ 
ing  with  power. 

In  closing  his  account  of  the  meeting  he  speaks  of 
the  gracious  hospitality  which  he  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hensey  of  Africa,  enjoyed  in  the  home  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
James  Nimmo,  their  daughter  Margaret  and  son 
Adam. 

J.  M.  Philputt  of  Eureka,  Illinois,  tells  the  follow¬ 
ing  interesting  story  of  Mr.  McLean  and  the  confer¬ 
ence. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  be  one  of  the  delegates  to  the  great 
Edinburgh  missionary  conference  in  1910.  There  were  about 
twenty  Disciples,  I  think,  and  we  were  entertained  in  palatial 
homes  convenient  to  the  sessions  of  the  conference.  There  is 
a  small  church  of  the  Disciples  out  in  the  suburbs  of  the  city, 
and  Brother  McLean  went  out  there  every  evening  and  spent 
the  night  in  the  humble  home  of  an  elder  of  the  church.  I 
said  to  him,  “Brother  McLean,  why  do  you  go  away  out  there 
for  entertainment,  at  such  inconvenience  to  yourself  V’ 
“Oh,”  he  said,  after  a  moment’s  reflection,  “it  may  help  the 
church.  ’  ’ 

On  Sunday  morning,  when  the  rest  of  us  were  hearing  the 
bishops  and  archbishops,  the  great  nabobs  of  the  conference 
speak,  Brother  McLean  went  out  and  worshiped  with  that 
little  church.  And  that  evening  he  arranged  a  special  meet¬ 
ing  out  there  and  carried  all  the  Disciples  away  from  the 
conference  out  to  that  little  chapel.  He  asked  a  half  dozen 
of  us  to  speak  briefly  and  we  had  a  great  love-feast. 

Undoubtedly  the  little  church  was  cheered  and  comforted 
by  our  visit.  But  the  best  thing  of  the  evening  was  to  witness 


184 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Brother  McLean’s  joy  in  the  consciousness  that  perhaps  he 
was  giving  strength  to  the  little  church.  His  soul  bubbled 
over  with  a  gracious  optimism,  which  put  heart  into  every¬ 
body.  And  I  think  the  spiritual  temperature  in  the  little 
chapel  that  night  was  probably  higher  than  in  any  of  the 
sessions  of  the  great  conference  over  in  the  city. 

This  incident  was  characteristic  of  Brother  McLean.  It 
shows  how  his  heart  'went  out  to  “our  people”  everywhere. 
To  him  they  were  always  first;  and  he  rejoiced  in  every  op¬ 
portunity  to  sacrifice  his  own  comfort  and  convenience  if  he 
thought  that  thereby  he  could  “help  the  brethren.” 

Dr.  Mary  T.  McGavran  of  India  recalled  that  during 
the  conference  Mr.  McLean  was  with  her  brother  John 
G.  and  family  several  times.  A  daughter,  J oy,  was  just 
three  years  old  and  very  shy,  due  partly  to  her  lonely 
life  at  Bilaspur  and  also  to  the  fact  that  she  was  not 
well  when  they  left  India.  On  the  Atlantic  she  was 
telling  her  mother  something  that  Mr.  McLean  did,  but 
could  not  remember  his  name.  Mrs.  McGavran 
guessed  several  times,  but  she  said,  “No,  mother,  no, 
mother.”  At  last,  her  eyes  all  alight,  she  said,  “It 
was  the  man  that  loved  me  and  that  I  loved.” 

On  Mr.  McLean’s  return  from  Scotland,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Rains  went  on  a  tour  of  a  year  to  all  the  fields 
of  the  society  except  Tibet  and  Africa.  They  included 
Australia  in  their  itinerary  which  ended  with  the  con¬ 
vention  at  Portland,  Oregon,  in  July,  1911.  When  Mr. 
Rains  reached  the  convention  his  health  was  mani¬ 
festly  broken  but  he  spoke  with  his  accustomed  power, 
giving  a  fascinating  and  statesmanlike  view  of  the 
fields  visited. 

After  his  return  from  the  Edinburgh  conference  Mr. 
McLean  wrote  both  to  England  and  to  Australia 
urging  the  fullest  possible  cooperation  of  the  Disciples 
of  Christ  throughout  the  world  in  all  their  missionary 
activities.  He  felt  strongly  that  this  was  a  funda¬ 
mental  and  practical  step  in  Christian  union.  The 


“WHERE  LIFE  WILL  COUNT”  185 

visit  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rains  to  Australia  looked  in  the 
same  direction. 

About  this  time  Mr.  McLean  published  in  The  Chris - 
tian-Evangelist>  under  the  title  “The  Foreign  Society’s 
Needs,  ’  ’  a  detailed  statement  of  the  workers  needed  in 
the  various  fields.  The  opening  and  closing  para¬ 
graphs  set  forth  his  convictions  on  the  primacy  of  the 
missionary  calling. 

The  most  pressing  need  of  the  Foreign  Society  is  the  need 
of  qualified  workers.  It  is  not  easy  to  get  money  but  it  is 
easier  to  get  money  than  workers  of  the  right  kind.  The 
fields  need  statesmanship,  generalship  and  scholarship,  as  well 
as  goodness  and  evangelistic  activity.  The  very  best  the 
church  and  schools  can  furnish — broad-minded,  big-hearted, 
level-headed  men  and  women  are  needed. 

#  *  #  *  # 

The  educated  young  men  of  our  time  should  know  that  the 
career  of  a  missionary  in  any  field  offers  the  amplest  scope 
for  the  highest  gifts.  As  has  been  truly  said,  it  is  a  career 
which  may  well  captivate  any  young  man  of  spirit,  which  will 
give  him  the  fullest  outlet  for  all  his  powers  and  which  will 
satisfy  his  best  ambitions.  There  is  no  other  field  in  the 
world  today  where  a  young  man’s  life  will  count  for  so  much. 

An  expedition  is  being  planned  to  start  for  the  Antarctic 
regions  next  year.  The  leader  has  received  4,800  offers  of 
service  from  men  eager  to  join  the  expedition.  Among  the 
applicants  are  sixteen  peers,  one  of  whom  said  in  his  letter 
that  he  is  willing  to  act  as  assistant  to  the  cook  if  there  is 
nothing  better  for  him  to  do.  It  is  only  a  few  months  since 
Captain  Scott  and  his  associates  perished  in  those  frozen 
regions.  But  that  fact  does  not  daunt  the  ambitious  youth  of 
England.  Why  should  not  men  be  forthcoming  for  the  mis¬ 
sion  fields,  where  prizes  far  more  splendid  are  to  be  won  ? 

While  Mr.  McLean  was  on  the  Pacific  Coast  for  the 
international  convention  of  1911,  he  attended  the  state 
conventions  of  that  region,  each  of  which  received  him 
as  a  real  prophet  of  God.  At  the  Northern  California 
convention  in  Santa  Cruz,  he  preached  the  opening 
sermon  and  then  gave  his  usual  close  attention  to 


186 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


every  other  item  of  the  program.  Just  before  the 
close  of  the  convention  the  delegates  presented  him 
a  handsome  gold  watch  as  a  token  of  the  high  esteem 
in  which  he  was  held  by  the  churches  represented 
there.  This  action  came  as  a  complete  and  embarrass¬ 
ing  surprise  and  he  always  cherished  the  gift  with 
fond  appreciation. 


CHAPTER  XIV 


THE  FOREIGN  MISSIONARY  RALLIES 

FIGHTING  "HEATHENISM  AT  HOME" — MCLEAN  AND  RAINS  DESCRIBE  THE 

RALLIES - PLAN  AND  TEAM  FOR  RALLIES - SERIES  OF  1907 - MISS  FRANKLIN'S 

EXPERIENCES — "HAVING  THE  BEST  TIME  ON  EARTH" - SEVEN  THINGS  THE 

RALLIES  OF  1905  SHOWED  MCLEAN. 

rPHE  great  conflict  of  Mr.  McLean’s  life,  waged  year 
after  year  from  the  time  he  was  elected  secre¬ 
tary  of  the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society  in 
1882  until  his  breath  ceased  in  1920,  was  against  the 
ignorance  and  indifference  of  Christian  people  in  re¬ 
gard  to  the  supreme  task  of  the  church  of  Christ.  In 
private  conversation  and  in  public  address,  in  personal 
correspondence  and  through  the  printed  page  he  was 
continually  engaged  in  this  unrelenting  warfare.  One 
of  the  most  common  excuses  for  neglecting  foreign  mis¬ 
sions  was,  “We  have  too  many  heathen  at  home  to  be 
sending  missionaries  abroad.”  This  very  attitude  was 
the  ‘ 4 heathenism  at  home”  which  he  fought  as  relent¬ 
lessly  as  the  missionaries  assailed  the  heathenism 
abroad. 

Since  national  and  state  conventions  and  regular 
Sunday  services  in  the  churches  did  not  afford  suffi¬ 
cient  opportunities  for  addressing  a  million  people 
scattered  over  a  continent,  Mr.  McLean  invented  and 
developed  the  missionary  rally  to  multiply  contacts 
and  to  reach  the  people.  Concerning  it  he  wrote  in  the 
Missionary  Intelligencer  in  1905 : 

The  Foreign  Missionary  Society  is  arranging  for  a  series  of 
rallies  to  be  held  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  It  would 

187 


188 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


be  a  good  tiling  if  the  entire  country  could  be  covered;  but 
with  the  present  staff  of  agents  this  is  impossible.  These 
rallies  are  planned  so  as  not  to  interfere  with  any  other  serv¬ 
ices.  They  begin  at  ten  in  the  morning  and  close  at  four  in 
the  afternoon.  If  there  is  a  revival  in  progress,  the  rally  will 
help  it,  and  the  revival  in  turn  will  help  the  rally.  The  aim 
of  a  foreign  missionary  rally  is  to  impart  information  with  a 
view  to  the  creation  of  interest  and  enthusiasm.  No  collec¬ 
tions  are  taken.  No  pledges  are  solicited.  Very  little  is  said 
about  money.  It  is  believed  that  if  the  people  know  the  place 
the  missionary  enterprise  has  in  the  thought  and  purpose  of 
God,  and  if  they  know  the  nature  and  scope  of  the  work  being 
done,  the  money  will  be  forthcoming.  *  *  *  In  many 

lives  a  missionary  rally  has  marked  an  epoch.  A  rally  is  a 
national  convention  in  miniature.  *  *  *  At  some  rallies  as 
many  as  a  thousand  people  have  been  present.  Some  came  a 
hundred  miles  to  assist.  *  *  *  More  than  one  church, 

after  such  a  service,  and  largely  because  of  it,  decided  to  sup¬ 
port  a  missionary  on  the  field. 

After  the  rallies  of  that  year,  Mr.  Rains  made  the 
following  statement  in  the  March  number  of  the  Intel¬ 
ligencer : 

During  January,  President  A.  McLean  made  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  campaigns  in  our  history.  He  conducted 
twenty-one  missionary  rallies  in  Illinois,  Iowa,  Kansas  and 
Missouri.  Besides,  he  spoke  to  different  churches  between 
rallies.  A  vast  amount  of  missionary  literature  was  dis¬ 
tributed.  He  sold  271  first-class  missionary  books  besides  a 
number  of  missionary  maps,  and  also  took  a  large  number  of 
subscriptions  to  the  Missionary  Intelligencer.  His  great 
speeches  and  unconquerable  leadership  are  an  inspira¬ 
tion  to  all  who  come  under  his  influence.  Many  believe  him 
to  be  one  of  the  strongest  missionary  advocates  in  modern 
times.  To  this  cause  he  has  unreservedly  devoted  his  life. 
Under  his  incomparable  leadeiship  and  wise  judgment  the 
Foreign  Society  has  grown  to  be  a  world  power.  His  faith 
and  hope  and  courage  and  industry  are  a  constant  challenge 
to  a  larger  and  purer  life.  In  a  convention,  before  a  number 
of  students  or  in  a  missionary  rally  he  has  no  superior  and 
few  equals. 


PLAN  AND  TEAM  FOR  RALLIES  189 


Usually  he  took  with  him  one  of  the  missionaries  who 
could  give  first-hand  reports  of  the  conditions  on  his 
field  and  the  progress  that  had  been  made  there.  Mr. 
McLean  opened  each  rally  with  an  inimitable  ex¬ 
position  of  some  great  Scripture  passage  and  a 
prayer  that  lifted  the  conference,  whether  large  or 
small,  into  the  very  throne-room  of  the  Most  High. 
Usually  representatives  of  neighboring  churches  at¬ 
tended  the  rally  and  several  of  the  ministers  made 
brief  addresses  on  topics  previously  assigned.  To 
make  the  presentation  of  conditions  on  the  foreign 
fields  more  real  Mr.  McLean  carried  a  rare  collection 
of  curios  in  a  green  bag.  There  was  a  little  bronze 
Buddha  from  Japan;  an  ancestral  tablet  from  China; 
a  string  of  prayer  beads  from  India;  a  fetish  from 
Africa;  a  long  steel  probe  used  by  the  Chinese  to 
pierce  the  body  and  release  the  evil  spirit  which  had 
caused  disease ;  poisoned  arrows  and  Avar  knives  from 
Africa;  tiny  silken  shoes  from  the  bound  feet  of 
Chinese  women;  bells  used  by  the  idol-worshipers  to 
awaken  their  gods;  prayer  Avheels  from  Tibet  and 
other  objects  that  illustrated  in  a  forcible  Avay  the 
necessity  for  foreign  missions. 

His  rule  was  to  have  another  companion  beside  the 
missionary  as  a  regular  speaker  in  as  many  rallies  as 
possible.  He  held  those  accompanying  him  to  stan¬ 
dardized  addresses  which  experience  had  proved  most 
effective.  Some  of  his  own  addresses  Avere  also  uni¬ 
form.  But  the  opening  Scripture  with  its  exposition 
and  the  accompanying  prayer  Avere  different  every 
day.  The  richness  of  these  opening  devotions  so  im¬ 
pressed  those  who  attended  the  rallies,  and  especially 
those  who  Avent  Avith  him  through  a  number  of  them, 
that  they  prevailed  upon  him  to  publish  some  of  them, 
Avhich  he  did  under  the  title  Where  the  Book  Speaks. 

In  the  Avinter  of  1907  David  Rioch,  missionary  on 


190 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


furlough  from  India,  was  one  of  his  comrades  for  the 
rallies.  He  chose  me  for  the  other  because  I  ’was  Cen¬ 
tennial  secretary,  and  would  thus  have  a  chance  to  in¬ 
terest  many  peojjle  in  the  Centennial  aims.  A  mere 
list  of  the  places  at  which  we  held  rallies  is  impressive 
when  the  distance  between  these  points  is  noted,  and 
particularly  when  it  is  known  that  the  team  carried 
not  only  books  and  other  printed  matter  to  distribute 
and  sell,  but  also  maps  and  charts  to  display.  The  fol¬ 
lowing  items  are  taken  from  my  notes  of  the  rallies. 

Monday,  January  7,  1907,  Bluefield,  West  Virginia.  Mr. 
McLean  insisted  on  taking  the  lead  in  putting  up  the  maps 
and  charts.  We  wanted  to  relieve  him  of  this  care  but  he 
would  not  permit  us  to  be  more  than  assistants.  (We  mar¬ 
veled  at  his  dexterity,  not  knowing  until  after  his  death  about 
his  six  years  manual  training  and  experience  as  a  carriage 
maker.)  This  is  a  railroad  division  point  and  many  of  the 
church  members  are  railroad  men.  The  rapid  increase  of  its 
missionary  offerings  in  recent  years  is  explained  by  the  fact 
that  in  1897  an  engineer  and  his  wife,  having  a  pass,  de¬ 
cided  to  take  their  vacation  by  attending  the  national  con¬ 
vention  in  Indianapolis.  They  were  not  concerned  about  mis¬ 
sions  but  had  heard  and  read  of  some  of  the  men  whose 
names  appeared  on  the  program  and  wished  to  see  and  hear 
them.  But  they  returned  with  all  the  printed  matter  they 
could  carry  and  immediately  began  agitating  the  question 
of  missions  in  the  church,  with  the  result  that  missionary 
offerings  increased  rapidly  year  after  year. 

Tuesday,  January  8,  Roanoke,  Virginia. 

Wednesday,  January  9,  Winston-Salem,  North  Carolina. 
Dr.  Lilly,  of  the  Presbyterian  church,  attended  and  took  part 
in  the  rally  and  invited  us  to  his  midweek  service  which  is 
a  great  mission  study  class  with  nearly  as  many  of  the  church 
members  present  as  at  the  Sunday  services.  We  saw  with 
interest  the  Moravian  church,  college  and  cemetery  in  Sa¬ 
lem,  their  original  headquarters  in  America. 

Thursday,  January  10,  Danville,  Virginia. 

Friday  and  Saturday,  January  11,  12,  Lynchburg,  Virginia, 
and  Virginia  Christian  College.  Saturday  evening  we 
reached  Richmond  two  hours  late  and  without  any  evening 


RALLIES  OF  1907 


191 


meal.  Mr.  McLean  relieved  the  tedium  of  the  delay  with 
anecdotes  and  stories  and  was  greatly  amused  at  Rioch’s 
insistence  that  there  -was  no  point  to  certain  of  them. 

Sunday  and  Monday,  January  13,  14,  Richmond,  Virginia. 
We  occupied  the  pulpits  of  the  churches  Sunday  morning 
and  evening  and  held  the  rally  in  the  Seventh  Street  Church 
Monday. 

Tuesday,  January  15,  Norfolk,  Virginia. 

Wednesday,  January  16,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Thursday,  January  17,  Hagerstown,  Maryland. 

Friday,  January  18,  Baltimore,  Maryland. 

Sunday  and  Monday,  January  20,  21.  Pulpits  in  New 
York,  Brooklyn  and  East  Orange,  New  Jersey,  occupied  on 
Sunday,  and  rally  at  the  Central  Church  on  Monday.  Be¬ 
tween  times  we  called  on  W.  M.  Hollinger,  the  Fifth  Avenue 
photographer,  whose  rule  was  to  make  a  negative  of  Mr. 
McLean  whenever  he  could  get  hold  of  him.  For  good  meas¬ 
ure  he  took  his  comrades  also  on  this  occasion. 

Tuesday,  January  22,  Philadelphia. 

Wednesday,  January  23,  Troy,  New  York. 

Thursday,  January  24,  Syracuse,  New  York.  Sixteen  de¬ 
grees  below  zero. 

Friday,  January  25,  Wellsville,  New  York. 

Saturday,  January  26.  A  memorable  day  on  the  Buffalo 
and  Susquehanna  R.  R. — 8:15  A.  M.  to  4:30  P.  M. — Wells¬ 
ville  to  Blaisdell  where  we  took  a  trolley  car  five  miles  to 
Buffalo.  The  country  was  completely  covered  with  a  heavy 
snow.  The  weather  was  clear  but  cold.  The  train  was  a 
local  freight  with  one  passenger  coach  attached  and  seemed 
to  have  great  difficulty  in  making  any  headway  whatever. 
Of  course  there  was  nothing  to  eat  on  the  train  which  was 
due  in  Buffalo  before  noon,  and  it  was  not  possible  to  secure 
anything  at  the  few  snow-bound  stations  which  we  passed. 

Sunday  and  Monday,  January  27,  28.  Niagara  Falls  and 
Buffalo,  New  York. 

Tuesday,  January  29,  Youngstown,  Ohio.  We  arrived  at 
daylight.  Just  as  we  were  leaving  the  station  we  met  some 
men  driving  a  number  of  hogs.  Mr.  McLean  had  been  to 
Battle  Creek  often  enough  to  acquire  a  perfectly  Jewish  ab¬ 
horrence  of  pork  in  any  form.  In  most  of  the  churches  where 
the  rallies  were  held  the  culinary  facilities  were  limited  and 
the  ladies  who  graciously  provided  luncheon  served  cold 


192 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


boiled  ham  as  the  most  convenient  and  acceptable  meat  for 
such  an  occasion.  Mr.  McLean  appreciated  their  hospitality 
but  at  the  same  time  did  not  abate  in  the  least  his  dislike  of 
ham.  Meeting  the  porkers  this  bitter  winter  morning,  he 
turned  to  Mr.  Rioch  and  said,  “David,  do  you  suppose  they 
are  going  to  the  rally  V’ 

Wednesday,  January  30,  New  Castle,  Pennsylvania. 

Thursday,  January  31,  Johnstown,  Pennsylvania. 

Friday,  February  1,  Uniontown,  Pennsylvania. 

Sunday  and  Monday,  February  3  and  4,  Pittsburgh,  Penn¬ 
sylvania. 

Tuesday,  February  5,  Wheeling,  West  Virginia.  Some  of 
the  professors  and  many  of  the  students  of  Bethany  College 
were  present.  These  as  well  as  some  of  the  local  people  took 
great  interest  in  the  call  for  tithers.  All  present  were  asked 
to  stand  and  sing,  Am  I  a  Soldier  of  the  Cross?  During 
the  singing  those  who  were  willing  to  consecrate  at  least  a 
tenth  of  their  income  to  the  support  of  the  church  and  the 
world-wide  advancement  of  the  Kingdom  of  God  were  asked 
to  come  forward  and  sign  cards  to  that  effect.  Sixty  did  so. 
Mr.  McLean  declared  it  was  one  of  the  greatest  revivals  he 
had  ever  witnessed. 

Wednesday,  February  6,  Uhrichsville,  Ohio.  Home  talent 
conducted  the  rally  during  the  forenoon  while  a  derailed 
freight  train  delayed  the  team.  The  afternoon  meeting  was 
held  as  usual,  Mr.  McLean  curtailing  his  own  time  that  the 
others  might  have  full  opportunity  to  present  their  messages. 
After  the  rally  he  went  to  Cincinnati  for  a  meeting  of  the 
executive  committee,  and  we  went  on  to  Akron  feeling  like 
orphans  without  him. 

Thursday,  February  7,  Akron,  Ohio.  F.  M.  Rains  came 
up  from  Cincinnati  to  take  charge  of  the  rally.  Men’s  mis¬ 
sionary  banquet  at  night  attended  by  two  hundred.  It  was 
unanimously  decided  to  raise  at  least  $1,000  March  3rd. 

Friday,  February  8,  Mansfield,  Ohio. 

The  feelings  which  Mr.  McLean’s  team-mates  ex¬ 
pressed  when  he  left  them  at  this  time  others  voiced 
whenever  he  was  obliged  to  be  absent  for  even  a  day. 
Miss  Joseplia  Franklin  of  India  was  in  the  rallies  for 
a  while  in  the  winter  of  1907-08.  She  says : 


MISS  FRANKLIN’S  EXPERIENCES  193 


In  1907  and  1908  when  home  on  my  second  furlough,  I  ac¬ 
companied  Mr.  McLean  to  the  missionary  rallies  held  in  In¬ 
diana,  Illinois  and  Iowa.  Before  that  time  I  knew  how  much  he 
was  loved  and  respected  by  the  missionaries,  but  had  no  idea 
of  how  he  was  loved  by  the  brotherhood  as  a  whole.  During 
a  meeting  he  had  only  to  stand  up  to  cause  a  smile  of  affec¬ 
tion,  interest  and  appreciation  to  pass  over  the  audience.  At 
the  close  of  a  rally  he  usually  tried  to  sell  the  books  we  car¬ 
ried  about  with  us.  Once  he  halted  a  crowd  just  about  to 
leave  the  house,  by  saying,  “Now,  brethren,  don’t  make  me 
think  I  have  been  speaking  in  an  asylum  for  the  feeble¬ 
minded.  ’  ’  In  this  particular  party  there  was  one  missionary 
from  Africa  and  one  from  Japan,  besides  local  workers,  Mr. 
McLean  and  myself.  When  we  entered  our  first  hotel,  we  put 
our  home  addresses  on  the  register.  Mr.  McLean  told  us 
that  was  no  way  to  advertise,  but  always  to  write  our  mission 
address,  otherwise  we  might  be  taken  for  ordinary  people. 
In  the  next  town,  therefore,  we  wrote  our  mission  addresses, 
and  we  had  only  to  enter  the  lobby  or  dining  room  to  find  all 
eyes  focused  on  us.  As  a  consequence,  from  that  time  on,  we 
usually  had  a  missionary  rally  wherever  we  sat  down,  even 
on  the  trains  and  interurbans.  We  foreign  missionaries  got 
so  much  attention  that  we  imagined  we  were  the  soul  of  the 
rallies. 

I  paid  little  attention  to  the  management  of  the  meetings — 
in  fact  did  not  know  that  they  were  managed,  and  spoke  when 
my  turn  came  and  afterward  looked  for  a  corner  in  which  I 
might  sleep  unobserved  while  others  were  speaking.  One 
day,  however,  we  arrived  at  a  big  Indiana  town  with  a  big 
live  church.  Mr.  McLean,  for  some  reason,  could  not  attend, 
although  he  was  on  the  program.  Everyone  asked  about 
him  and  was  greatly  disappointed.  Everything  went  wrong 
that  day.  None  of  us  seemed  to  get  attention.  When  the 
rally  was  over,  an  old  brother  remarked,  “It  does  not  seem 
like  a  rally  without  A.  McLean.” 

For  the  latter  half  of  the  winter  of  1908,  Mr. 
McLean  asked  me  to  join  him  and  Clifford  S.  Weaver 
in  a  schedule  of  rallies  that  swept  Iowa,  Nebraska, 
Kansas,  Oklahoma,  Texas  and  Arkansas,  and  closed 
with  a  meeting  of  record-breaking  attendance  at  Jop- 


194 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


liii,  Missouri.  The  itinerary  included  five  colleges: 
Drake,  Cotner,  Phillips,  Carlton  and  Texas  Christian. 

There  was  a  particularly  impressive  meeting  in  the 
East  Dallas  Church,  which  was  then  occupying  a  rough 
board  tabernacle  and  had  no  pastor.  Above  the  pulpit 
the  members  had  a  map  of  the  world  with  a  red  cord 
reaching  from  Dallas  to  Damoh,  India,  where  Dr.  Min¬ 
nie  (Mrs.  David)  Rioch,  their  living  link  missionary, 
labored.  The  congregation  was  made  up  almost  en¬ 
tirely  of  Christian  Endeavorers,  most  of  whom  were 
tithers.  They  might  have  considered  their  own  cir¬ 
cumstances  too  forlorn  to  permit  any  thought  for 
others,  but  instead  they  faithfully  kept  up  their  mis¬ 
sionary  offerings.  Their  marvelous  growth  has  exem¬ 
plified  the  divine  word,  “  There  is  that  scattereth  and 
vet  increase th.  ’  ’ 

w 

After  the  rallies  of  this  year,  which  covered  an  un¬ 
usually  long  stretch  of  both  time  and  territory,  with 
two  teams,  he  wrote:  “I  have  made  no  sacrifices. 
I  have  been  having  the  best  time  on  earth.  Every  day 
I  am  meeting  the  real  aristocracy  of  the  world.  Every 
day  I  have  fellowship  with  the  missionaries  who  are 
the  greatest  heroes  and  heroines  of  the  world.” 

An  illustration  of  the  hospitality  that  awaited  Mr. 
McLean  in  many  places  and  of  his  frank  reliance  upon 
it  is  found  in  a  story  related  by  Mrs.  H.  Gerould  of 
Cleveland,  Ohio.  Mr.  McLean  and  John  G.  McGavran 
reached  her  home  at  8:30  one  evening.  When  she 
asked  them  whether  they  had  eaten  supper,  they  an¬ 
swered  in  surprise,  “Did  you  not  get  our  telegram?” 
They  could  scarcely  explain  before  the  message  was 
delivered.  It  read,  “McGavran  and  I  will  arrive  at 
8:30,  awfully  hungry.”  Of  course  they  had  their  sup¬ 
per,  though  the  maid,  who  belonged  to  another  church 
but  greatly  admired  Mr.  McLean,  was  distressed  that 
she  could  not  give  him  his  customary  glass  of  milk. 


t  4 


HAVING  THE  BEST  TIME  ON  EARTH”  195 


Sinc£  Mr.  McLean  spent  more  time  and  energy  in 
missionary  rallies  than  in  any  other  form  of  service, 
his  own  account  of  the  rallies  as  published  in  The 
Christian-Evangelist,  March  23, 1905,  will  be  read  with 
interest.  That  year’s  series  was  typical  of  his  cam¬ 
paigns  from  year  to  year.  Among  other  things  it 
will  be  noted  that  his  team-mates  were  changed  several 
times. 


For  three  months  I  have  been  out  among  the  churches  in 
the  interest  of  the  March  offering  for  foreign  missions.  S. 
J.  Corey  of  New  York,  was  with  me  for  one  month,  Cecil  J. 
Armstrong  of  Winchester,  Kentucky,  for  nearly  three  weeks, 
Professor  G.  A.  Peckkam  of  Hiram,  and  J.  L.  Garvin  of 
Youngstown,  Ohio,  were  with  me  a  considerable  portion  of  the 
time.  These  men  were  heard  with  delight.  Their  addresses 
will  bear  fruit  in  all  time  to  come. 

A  rally  is  unlike  any  other  service.  It  is  a  council  of  war. 
There  is  no  thought  of  amusement  or  entertainment.  There 
is  no  applause.  The  people  come  together  to  think,  to  speak, 
to  hear,  to  pray  and  to  sing  about  world-wide  evangelism. 
All  the  powers  of  mind  and  heart  are  concentrated  for  the 
day  on  this  single  topic.  Information  is  given  in  the  hope 
that  it  will  generate  interest  and  enthusiasm,  and  interest 
and  enthusiasm  are  generated  in  the  hope  that  they  will  lead 
to  more  numerous  and  liberal  offerings. 

While  on  this  campaign  several  things  were  suggested  to 
my  mind. 

First.  It  is  as  plain  as  daylight  that  the  missionary  spirit 
is  extending  itself  in  ever-widening  and  in  ever-deepening 
circles.  Such  rallies  as  were  held  this  year  could  not  have 
been  held  ten  years  ago.  Then  there  were  not  so  many  men 
able  to  speak  intelligently  on  the  subject.  Then  the  mission¬ 
ary  atmosphere  was  lacking  in  the  churches.  Then  the  people 
would  not  attend.  The  interest  in  missions  is  now  much 
stronger  than  it  was  then.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that 
in  hundreds  of  churches  there  is  an  earnest  desire  to  support 
a  missionary.  It  is  almost  certain  that  before  the  present 
decade  closes  hundreds  of  churches  will  be  doing  this.  The 
living  link  idea  is  gaining  ground  every  day.  It  haunted 
some  church  officials  so  that  they  could  not  sleep. 


196 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Second.  The  people  are  hungry  for  missionary  informa¬ 
tion.  There  was  the  closest  attention  to  every  speaker  who 
had  a  message  to  deliver.  If  a  man  should  attempt  to  give 
an  address  that  did  not  cost  him  anything,  or  a  liberal  sec¬ 
tion  from  an  old  sermon  that  had  nothing  pertaining  to  the 
subject  in  hand  in  it,  and  that  had  not  even  been  warmed 
over,  it  is  likely  that  the  interest  would  flag  perceptibly.  But 
one  who  had  made  careful  preparation  and  had  a  message 
that  stirred  his  own  heart  was  sure  of  the  most  appreciative 
hearing ;  his  audience  drank  down  his  words  as  a  thirsty  ox 
drinks  water.  It  was  curious  to  see  how  they  listened  to  a 
man  who  had  been  at  the  front  of  the  battle  and  knew,  as 
others  could  not,  the  truth  of  what  he  affirmed.  He  left 
them  in  tears. 

Third.  The  campaign  reveals  the  power  of  the  preacher. 
Wherever  a  man  wanted  a  great  service  and  worked  for  it, 
he  had  it.  There  was  no  exception.  In  not  a  single  instance 
was  the  program  carried  out  exactly  as  it  was  planned.  Lov¬ 
ers  were  inconsiderate  enough  to  plan  for  their  wedding  on 
the  very  day  set  for  the  rally,  and  it  was  necessary  for  the 
preacher  to  remain  at  home.  Others  sickened  and  died  and 
that  interfered  with  the  service.  In  some  cases  half  or  more 
than  half  of  the  speakers  did  not  appear.  In  spite  of  all 
interferences,  when  the  preacher  in  whose  church  the  rally 
was  held  exerted  himself  to  the  utmost,  the  attendance  of  both 
speakers  and  people  was  most  gratifying.  His  enthusiasm 
was  contagious  and  affected  those  near  and  far.  So  it  came 
to  pass  that  many  of  the  rallies  were  as  largely  attended  as 
a  state  convention  and  were  quite  as  enjoyable  and  quite  as 
helpful.  When  the  services  were  eminently  successful  the 
lion’s  share  of  the  honor  belonged  to  the  men  who  acted  as 
hosts. 

Fourth.  Many  strong  churches  have  yet  to  learn  to  give 
on  a  scale  worthy  of  their  numbers  and  resources.  They  are 
timid  and  afraid  to  venture  in  faith.  Some  churches  of  a 
thousand  or  more  members  think  they  cannot  support  a  mis¬ 
sionary.  They  are  abundantly  able  to  support  two  or  three. 
They  could  do  that  easily  if  they  were  willing  to  undertake 
it.  They  make  much  of  their  current  expenses.  They  have 
to  pay  the  minister  and  the  organist  and  the  chorister  and  the 
janitor.  The  difficulty  is  in  getting  the  consent  of  their  own 
minds  to  attempt  some  large  thing.  They  do  not  appear  to 


CONCLUSIONS  FROM  THE  RALLIES  197 


have  learned  that  it  is  far  easier  to  do  a  handsome  thing  than 
it  is  to  do  a  petty  thing.  More  persons  respond  and  they  re¬ 
spond  more  liberally  and  they  feel  more  self-respect  and  more 
joy  when  it  is  done.  Most  of  the  churches  have  yet  to  learn 
what  it  is  to  have  fellowship  with  Christ  in  his  sufferings. 

Fifth.  Many  do  not  understand  what  the  rally  is.  Men 
and  women  will  leave  home  to  attend  a  state  or  national  con¬ 
vention  and  think  nothing  of  it.  These  same  people  do  not 
even  think  it  worth  while  to  attend  a  service  of  equal  value 
at  their  doors.  They  do  not  spend  even  an  hour  at  the  rally. 
It  will  be  different  as  time  goes  on.  They  will  get  to  know 
that  they  cannot  afford  not  to  attend  such  services.  Lovers 
will  understand  that  the  rally  has  the  right  of  way  and  will 
arrange  their  weddings  so  as  not  to  conflict.  Every  speaker 
who  is  necessarily  detained  will  endeavor  to  send  a  substitute 
so  that  the  program  may  be  symmetrical  and  complete.  No  one 
who  accepts  a  duty  on  the  program  will  fail  to  appear  except 
for  a  sufficient  reason. 

Sixth.  No  one  who  is  acquainted  with  our  churches  can 
fail  to  feel  that  we  are  living  in  the  roseate  dawn  of  a  better 
day.  The  signs  of  prosperity  and  promise  are  numerous  and 
unmistakable.  Better  houses  of  worship  are  being  provided. 
The  minister  is  better  equipped.  The  people  are  more  hope¬ 
ful.  The}'  are  thinking  and  planning  for  larger  things.  The 
churches  are  becoming  aware  of  their  power  and  of  their 
opportunity.  Like  young  Samson  when  the  spirit  of  the  Lord 
moved  upon  him,  they  are  coming  to  feel  equal  to  any  task  to 
which  they  are  called. 

Seventh.  If  the  preachers  will  stand  together  they  can  do 
anything.  They  can  have  a  great  rally  anywhere.  They  can 
enlist  thousands  of  churches  that  have  never  as  yet  done  any¬ 
thing  for  this  cause.  The  power  in  their  hands  is  all  but  un¬ 
limited.  If  the  six  thousand  men  who  preach  the  gospel  were 
all  cooperating  there  would  be  at  least  one  contributor  in 
every  church.  There  are  those  who  would  place  liberal 
offerings  beside  the  liberal  offering  of  their  minister.  It  is 
example  that  counts.  Self-sacrifice  in  the  pulpit  is  sure  to 
call  out  self-sacrifice  in  the  pews. 


CHAPTER  XV 


“DON’T  FORGET  THE  BOOKS” 

W.  H.  HANNA  GETS  A  MOTTO - "WHERE  THE  BOOK  SPEAKS"' - “HAND 

BOOK ^  OF  MISSIONS"" - “EPOCH  MAKERS  OF  MODERN  MISSIONS"" - PRESIDENT 

PAUL"S  ESTIMATE  OF  TWO  MC  LEAN  BOOKS — “HISTORY  OF  THE  FOREIGN  SO¬ 
CIETY  - “THE  PRIMACY  OF  THE  MISSIONARY"" - A  TRACT,  “DOUBLING  THE 

PREACH KR"S  POWER"" — BREADTH  OF  MC  LEAN"S  READING — HIS  LIBRARY — BOOK- 
TALK  WITH  THE  GRAYS - METHOD  OF  STUDY — “INTERCESSORY  PRAYER."" 

\\f  H.  HANNA,  a  missionary  in  the  Philippine 
*  Islands  from  1901  to  1922,  fairly  represents 
the  feeling  of  all  Mr.  McLean’s  comrades  in  the  mis¬ 
sionary  rallies,  when  he  writes : 

It  was  a  joy  to  be  with  him  on  the  missionary  rallies.  To 
hear  his  ever-fresh  expositions  of  the  Word  wTas  worth  more 
than  months  in  a  theological  seminary.  He  never  allowed  ns 
to  miss  a  train,  nor  to  be  late  for  a  service.  Brother  McLean 
always  insisted  on  his  right  to  climb  the  stepladders  and  help 
put  up  the  charts  and  maps  on  the  walls  of  the  churches.  It 
was  exceedingly  difficult  for  him  to  conceal  his  impatience, 
not  to  say  his  disgust,  with  the  brethren  who  showed  them¬ 
selves  utterly  indifferent  to  the  missionary  literature  that  we 
carried  for  inspection  and  sale.  He  sometimes  assured  them 
that  it  would  not  bite  them. 

On  my  last  furlough,  I  had  been  detailed  to  be  a  leader  in 
a  series  of  rallies  in  the  company  of  C.  F.  McCall  of  Japan 
and  C.  P.  Hedges  of  Africa.  Our  last  rally  was  at  the  Cen¬ 
tral  Church  in  Cincinnati.  The  entire  office  force  (of  the 
Foreign  Society)  came  to  the  rally.  As  we  neared  the  close 
of  the  rally  Brother  McLean  began  to  fear  that  we  were  going 
to  forget  to  speak  about  the  literature,  and  called  out,  ‘  ‘  Don ’t 
forget  the  books.  ’  ’  I  look  upon  that  as  his  legacy  of  exhorta¬ 
tion  to  the  brotherhood  of  Disciples, — “Don’t  forget  the 
books.”  He  knew,  and  we  know,  that  if  people  read  mission- 


198 


W.  H.  HANNA  GETS  A  MOTTO 


199 


ary  literature  they  will  be  informed  and  then  will  come  in* 
spiration  to  pray  for  missions  and  to  give  and  to  go  out  into 
the  missionary  field. 

All  that  Mr.  Hanna  has  said,  and  much  more,  is  true 
of  Mr.  McLean’s  high  regard  for  missionary  books, 
but  as  Mr.  Hanna  intimates,  this  regard  was  not  lim¬ 
ited  to  missionary  books  but  covered  the  whole  range 
of  literature.  As  a  practical  measure  for  advancing 
the  missionary  cause  he  did  everything  in  his  power  to 
increase  the  reading  of  his  brethren.  As  much  as 
possible  of  his  own  work  he  put  into  permanent  book 
form.  He  realized  that  only  a  few  could  hear  him 
speak,  and  they  for  only  a  few  minutes,  and  that  even 
such  a  meager  presentation  of  the  great  cause  which 
he  represented  would  be  forgotten  largely  by  most  of 
those  who  heard.  On  the  other  hand,  he  could  put  two 
dozen  addresses  into  a  book  and  send  them  at  small 
expense  to  the  least  accessible  points,  and  to  the  great¬ 
est  distances,  and  thus  reach  thousands  instead  of 
tens.  Those  who  secured  the  book  would  have  a  per¬ 
manent  possession  to  read  and  re-read  and  to  hand 
around  to  friends,  and  even  to  pass  on  to  succeeding 
generations. 

I  have  mentioned  Missionary  Addresses,  published 
in  1895,  and  A  Circuit  of  the  Globe ,  in  1896,  and  also 
the  little  Campbell  books.  He  published  Where  the 
Book  Speaks  in  1907.  It  is  a  series  of  expositions  of 
great  passages  from  the  Bible  which  he  gave  in  the 
missionary  rallies.  He  brought  out  this  book  in  defer¬ 
ence  to  the  demand  of  those  who  attended  the  rallies 
and  especially  of  those  who  accompanied  him  and  en¬ 
joyed  the  entire  series.  It  has  not  only  been  widely 
read  among  his  own  people  but  has  been  made  a  text¬ 
book  by  other  communions  and  in  other  lands. 

When  the  Christian  Endeavor  movement  was  at  the 
height  of  its  pristine  vigor  J.  Z.  Tyler,  one  of  its  na- 


200 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


tional  trustees,  added  to  his  superabundant  labors  as 
a  city  pastor  the  office  and  field  work  of  national  super¬ 
intendent  of  Christian  Endeavor  for  the  Disciples  of 
Christ.  In  conjunction  with  F.  D.  Power  and  H.  L. 
Willett,  two  other  overworked  leaders  of  the  day,  he 
promoted  the  Bethany  Christian  Endeavor  Reading 
Course,  for  which  Mr.  McLean  prepared  a  Hand  Booh 
of  Missions  that  was  packed  with  condensed,  compre¬ 
hensive  and  attractive  information  on  the  subject. 

When  the  Christian  Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  es¬ 
tablished  the  College  of  Missions  at  Indianapolis, 
as  one  of  its  chief  Centennial  enterprises,  Mr. 
McLean  became  one  of  its  earliest  and  most  devoted 
and  helpful  friends.  He  gave  an  address  at  the  laying 
of  the  corner  stone,  and  also  at  the  dedication  of  the 
building  in  1910,  served  as  a  trustee  and  in  every  way 
took  an  increasing  interest  in  everything  pertaining 
to  the  school.  His  Epoch  Mahers  of  Modern  Missions, 
published  in  1912,  bears  the  imprint,  ‘  ‘  College  of  Mis¬ 
sions  Lectureship,  Series  One,”  and  “ Dedicated  to 
President  Charles  T.  Paul  and  Dr.  Harry  C.  Hurd, 
both  of  the  College  of  Missions,  Indianapolis,  Indi¬ 
ana.”  The  book  was  a  course  of  lectures  delivered  to 
the  teachers  and  students  in  the  spring  of  that  year. 
Soon  after  the  book  appeared,  President  Charles  T. 
Paul  wrote  in  The  Christian-Evangelist : 

Are  the  Disciples  of  Christ  aware  of  the  great  service  ren¬ 
dered  by  the  president  of  the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary 
Society  in  these  two  books?  (Where  the  Book  Speaks  and 
Epoch  Makers  of  Modern  Missions ).  He  has  made  available 
in  brief  scope  and  attractive  form,  for  the  student,  the  mis¬ 
sion  study  class,  the  pastor  and  the  general  reader,  not  only 
of  our  own  communion  but  of  English-speaking  Christendom, 
the  foundation  principles  and  actual  processes  of  the  whole 
work  of  modern  missions.  It  is  doubtful  whether  a  better 
introduction  to  the  rapidly  emerging  '‘Science  of  Missions’ ’ 
is  anywhere  to  be  found.  One  who  studies  and  masters  these 


PRESIDENT  PAUL  ON  TWO  BOOKS  201 


volumes  will  find  himself  enriched  by  a  threefold  knowledge : 
(1)  Of  the  essential  missionary  teachings  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments;  (2)  of  the  main  facts  in  the  history  of  Christian 
expansion  during  the  past  hundred  and  fifty  years;  and 
(3)  of  the  personality  and  career  of  almost  a  score  of  the 
outstanding  Christian  pioneers  in  non-Christian  lands. 

In  Epoch  Makers,  the  ardent  soul  of  Archibald  McLean  is 
poured  out  in  untrammeled  flow.  Here  he  is  freer  even,  and 
less  formally  didactic  than  in  Where  the  Book  Speaks.  Here 
the  spontaneous  eloquence  of  simplicity  and  personality 
gushes  forth  in  crystal  stream  to  find  and  refresh  the  reader’s 
heart.  There  is  no  superficial  or  ornate  rhetoric.  Great  lives 
and  great  achievements  are  made  to  speak  for  themselves  by 
one  who  is  kin  with  them  in  motive  and  in  deed. 

The  subjects  of  the  sixteen  addresses  are : 

I.  Henry  Martyn 

II.  Adoniram  Judson,  Jesus  Christ’s  Man 

III.  William  Carey 

IV.  Christian  Frederick  Swartz 

V.  Robert  Morrison,  the  Apostle  of  China 

VI.  Robert  Moffat 

VII.  David  Livingstone 

VIII.  John  Williams 

IX.  J ohn  Coleridge  Patteson 

X.  John  Hunt 

XI.  Alexander  Duff 

XII.  James  Chalmers,  the  Apostle  of  the  Papuan  Gulf 

XIII.  James  Evans,  the  Apostle  of  the  North 

XIV.  Guido  Fridolin  Verbeck 

XV.  Horace  Tracy  Pitkin 

XVI.  Zenas  Sanford  Loftis 

A  second  series  of  lectures  was  in  progress  which 
was  to  have  been  published  in  the  same  form.  Five  of 
these  he  had  delivered,  two  on  The  Uganda  Mission , 
two  on  John  Geddie,  the  Apostle  of  the  New  Hebrides, 
and  one  on  Samuel  John  Mills . 

In  1919  he  published  The  History  of  the  Foreign 
Christian  Missionary  Society ,  a  volume  of  444  pages, 
illustrated  with  numerous  photographs  of  missionaries 


202 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


and  their  work,  and  of  the  representatives  of  the 
church  at  home  who  made  the  work  possible.  He 
wrote  from  personal  knowledge  of  the  society’s  entire 
course,  having  been  present  when  it  was  organized  at 
Louisville,  Kentucky7,  in  1875  and  having  served  as 
secretary  or  president  from  1882  until  it  was  merged 
into  the  United  Christian  Missionary  Society.  While 
his  name  seldom  appears  in  the  book  and  the  first  per¬ 
sonal  pronoun  never,  the  book  is  in  an  extraordinary 
degree  an  autobiography,  so  close  was  his  identifica¬ 
tion  with  the  society  from  first  to  last. 

The  History  is  not  only  comprehensive  and  authori¬ 
tative  but  it  is  illuminating  and  interesting.  It  shows 
the  inception  and  the  expansion  of  the  work  on  each 
of  the  fields  occupied  by  the  society  and  the  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  missionary  conscience  among  the  churches 
at  home.  There  is  a  frank  record  of  the  opposition 
encountered  in  the  beginning  and  the  slowness  of 
growth  that  allowed  seven  years  to  pass  after  the  or¬ 
ganization  of  the  society  before  the  first  missionaries 
entered  a  non-Christian  field.  While  he  records  these 
facts  without  apology,  he  presents  the  reports  of  rapid 
growth  in  later  years  without  boasting  or  even  exulta¬ 
tion.  Through  the  first  humiliating  period  he  was  con¬ 
fident  that  the  way  of  the  Lord  would  finally  prevail; 
through  the  last  gratifying  years  he  was  aware  that 
only  a  fraction  of  what  should  be  done  had  yet  been 
undertaken. 

In  1920  another  volume  of  great  missionary  ad¬ 
dresses  appeared  under  the  name  of  The  Primacy  of 
the  Missionary.  Twenty-five  years  had  elapsed  since 
his  first  volume  was  published.  In  that  quarter  of  a 
century  more  progress  was  made  in  foreign  missions 
than  in  the  whole  stretch  of  centuries  from  the  davs 
of  the  apostles  to  the  launching  of  the  Student  Volun¬ 
teer  Movement.  Certain  of  these  twentv-two  ad- 


— Mrs.  Ida  Linder,  Palmyra,  Illinois 
ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


One  of  his  latest  and  most  popular  photographs. 


BOOKS  AND  TRACTS 


203 


dresses  report  with  joy  somewhat  of  this  progress,  but 
most  of  them  follow  the  course  of  the  earlier  book  in 
dealing  with  the  great  fundamental  basis  of  mission¬ 
ary  activity;  the  eternal  principles  of  the  divine  com¬ 
mand  which  neither  philosophy  can  abrogate  nor  suc¬ 
cess  enlarge. 

Like  the  earlier  addresses,  and  indeed  like  all  of  the 
sermons  that  he  preached  at  Mt.  Healthy,  these  are 
saturated  with  Scripture  truths  presented  in  the  exact 
words  of  the  Book.  At  the  end  of  the  volume  is  the 
benediction:  “Now  unto  the  King  eternal,  immortal, 
invisible,  the  only  God,  be  honor  and  glory  forever  and 
ever. 1  ’ 

Most  widely  circulated  of  all  that  Mr.  McLean  wi'ote 
was  the  tract  entitled  Doubling  the  Preacher’s  Power. 
This  was  issued  first  in  1902,  and  has  been  in  demand 
ever  since  for  distribution  in  churches  and  especially 
among  the  members  of  official  boards.  Like  nearly 
all  of  his  missionary  addresses  it  seems  as  fresh  and 
timely  today  as  when  it  first  appeared  and  is  wielding 
a  profound  influence  in  magnifying  the  ministry  and 
so  magnifying  the  church  and  the  gospel  which  both 
minister  and  church  are  set  to  promulgate. 

His  missionary  passion  was  grounded  primarily  in 
his  familiarity  with  the  Word  of  God,  and  in  his  un¬ 
qualified  acceptance  of  it  as  the  absolute  rule  of  his 
life.  It  was  natural  therefore  that  he  should  take  a 
deep  interest  in  devotional  literature,  in  the  lives  of 
the  martyrs  and  saints  who  have  lived  closest  to  God, 
and  in  every  sort  of  book  that  would  assist  in  what 
the  medieval  Brother  Lawrence  called  “the  practice  of 
the  presence  of  God.”  He  showed  his  high  esteem  of 
such  works  by  presenting  to  his  friends  more  copies 
of  them  than  even  of  missionary  books. 

His  interest  did  not  stop  with  books  that  related 
directly  to  his  calling.  With  Terence  he  held,  “I  am  a 


204 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


man,  and  I  have  an  interest  in  everything  that  con¬ 
cerns  humanity. ’  ’  The  whole  range  of  juvenile  classics 
was  covered  year  after  year  in  his  Christmas  presents 
to  his  little  friends.  Dining  one  Sunday  in  1891  at  the 
home  of  J.  M.  Appleton,  then  an  elder  of  the  Central 
Church  in  Dayton,  Ohio,  in  which  he  had  just  preached 
one  of  his  greatest  missionary  sermons,  some  one  spoke 
lightly  of  Society  as  I  Have  Found  It,  by  Ward 
McAllister,  the  arbiter  of  fashion  in  New  York,  and  the 
man  who  was  credited  with  making  out  the  list  of  the 
famous  “400.”  Mr.  McLean  amazed  the  company  by 
declaring,  “There  are  some  good  things  in  that  book. 
I  have  read  it.  ’  ’  A  little  later  the  conversation  drifted 
around  to  Mark  Twain’s  works.  He  was  familiar 
with  them  all.  Finally  he  remarked  dryly,  “Mark 
Twain’s  Scrap  Booh  is  the  best  thing  he  ever  did.” 
Mr.  Appleton,  a  confirmed  lover  of  the  great  Mis¬ 
sourian,  exclaimed,  ‘ 4 1  never  read  that,  ’  ’  to  the  amuse¬ 
ment  of  those  who  happened  to  be  familiar  with  the 
patented  scrapbook  with  gummed  leaves  to  which  clip¬ 
pings  could  be  attached  by  merely  moistening  them. 

Any  visitor  whom  Mr.  McLean  honored  with  an  in¬ 
vitation  to  his  Cincinnati  home  needed  only  to  step 
inside  the  door  to  realize  that  he  was  in  the  den  of  a 
booklover.  The  walls  were  lined  with  shelves  from 
the  floor  to  the  ceiling.  Books  and  magazines  were 
piled  up  on  his  desk  until  he  was  obliged  to  do  his 
writing  on  the  drop  leaf  of  his  armchair.  Books  were 
stacked  up  on  the  mantel  and  on  the  chairs,  and  over¬ 
flowed  from  all  possible  receptacles  onto  the  floor. 
There  seemed  to  be  no  system  or  order  in  their  plac¬ 
ing  ;  there  were  no  numbers  on  them  and  no  catalogue 
of  them,  but  it  is  a  matter  of  record  that  he  knew  the 
precise  location  of  every  one.  Again  and  again,  when 
he  was  away  from  home,  he  has  written  back  asking 
that  a  certain  volume  be  sent  to  him,  telling  exactly 


BREADTH  OF  READING 


205 


where  it  could  be  found.  He  had  no  bookplate  and  in 
only  two  or  three  of  the  volumes  had  he  written  his 
name. 

His  selection  of  books  covered  the  entire  range  of 
human  thought.  It  was  not  predominantly  a  mission¬ 
ary  library.  Rather  it  should  be  said  that  he  did  not 
keep  many  missionary  books,  but  after  securing  what 
was  in  them  passed  them  on  to  others.  It  was  a 
preacher’s  library  formed  around  a  body  of  commen¬ 
taries,  Bible  dictionaries  and  standard  theological 
works.  There  was  a  good  representation  of  the  clas¬ 
sics  of  all  ages  and  all  lands  with  the  great  poets  in 
the  chief  place.  It  was  especially  rich  in  biographies. 
One  day  he  handed  Thayer’s  two-volume  Life  of  John 
Hay  to  Mr.  Burnham  with  the  observation,  ‘ ‘My 
friend,  open  that  book  and  it  will  read  itself.  ’  ’ 

Among  his  most  intimate  friends  were  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Alexander  C.  Gray.  To  begin  with,  they  were  also 
Scotch  Canadians,  and  then  Mr.  Gray’s  eight  years  as 
minister  of  the  Mt.  Healthy  Church  gave  them  another 
point  of  contact.  The  friendship  thus  formed  they 
continued  by  correspondence  and  by  his  occasional 
visits  to  Eureka  College,  after  Mr.  Gray  became  a  pro¬ 
fessor  in  that  institution.  Mrs.  Gray  says  that  when 
she  first  met  Mr.  McLean  at  Dr.  Kilgour’s  College  Hill 
home  in  1896,  he  had  just  been  reading  Amiel’s  Jour¬ 
nal,  as  she  had  also,  and  thus  they  found  at  once  a  com¬ 
mon  topic  of  conversation.  In  connection  with  his  love 
of  books,  she  says : 

It  was  astonishing  how  widely  he  read  for  such  a  busy 
man.  When  we  were  with  the  Mt.  Healthy  Church,  he 
preached  one  of  the  most  soul-searching  sermons  on  the  effects 
of  sin,  the  inspiration  being  Balzac’s  story,  The  Wild  Ass’s 
Skin,  which  he  had  just  read.  We  had  been  given  a  copy  of 
the  Letters  of  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning  in  two  large  vol¬ 
umes.  He  was  the  first  of  our  friends  to  read  it  and  appre¬ 
ciate  it  to  the  utmost  as  he  also  did  the  Sonnets  from  the 


206 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Portuguese.  At  another  time  he  asked  us  for  a  copy  of  the 
Rubaiyat  of  Omar  Khayyam,  as  we  had  two  copies.  As  every¬ 
one  knows,  who  knew  him,  he  was  a  great  lover  of  poetry  and 
often  lamented  the  fact  that  he  had  no  time  to  keep  up  with 
the  new  poetry.  One  of  the  last  times  he  was  in  our  home,  I 
called  his  attention  to  Robert  Haven  Schauffler’s  The  White 
Comrade ,  one  of  the  most  beautiful  of  the  war  poems,  and  he 
greatly  admired  it.  On  the  same  visit,  as  we  walked  down 
the  street  together  an  evening  star  was  bright  in  the  western 
sky.  He  quoted, 

t  ‘ Sunset  and  evening  star 
And  one  clear  call  for  me.” 

The  following  letter  to  the  Grays  deals  with  a  sug¬ 
gestion  which  came  frequently,  that  Mr.  McLean 
should  give  more  time  to  writing. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  January  2,  1913. 
Dear  Professor  and  Mrs.  Gray : 

The  Lord  reward  you  for  your  generous  estimate  of  my 
book  (Epoch  Makers  of  Modern  Missions)  and  for  all  your 
kindness  to  me.  I  have  put  a  good  deal  of  work  on  it  and 
naturally  wish  it  may  be  read  and  do  good.  The  College  of 
Missions  is  responsible  for  the  publication.  President  Paul 
led  in  the  matter.  Now  that  you  both  like  the  book,  I  feel 
more  confident  about  its  merit  than  I  did. 

As  to  another  book  on  the  principles  of  missions,  does  it 
not  seem  to  you  that  the  Edinburgh  conference  report  covers 
that  field?  That  report  was  designed  to  treat  of  every  phase 
of  the  subject.  You  and  some  other  friends  wish  I  had  more 
time  for  writing.  Perhaps  that  would  be  better;  but  I  am 
not  sure.  The  work  needs  to  be  pushed  with  all  possible 
vigor.  Missionary  books  are  multiplying  on  all  sides.  My 
writing  is  a  by-product.  My  literary  wrnrk  is  done  before  the 
day  begins  or  after  it  ends  or  on  trains  or  in  depots  or  in 
hotels  or  homes  when  I  travel. 

The  idea  of  Profeasor  Gray  doing  hack  work  for  me  is 
amusing.  I  feel  sure  he  can  spend  his  time  more  profitably 
in  other  waj^s.  But  I  am  grateful  for  the  good  will  that  in¬ 
spired  the  offer. 

Yesterday  was  a  quiet  day.  I  was  in  my  rooms  most  of 


METHOD  OF  STUDY  207 

the  time.  I  went  down  town  and  did  some  work  in  the 
Rooms.  I  made  no  calls. 

I  wish  you  both  and  the  children  and  Mrs.  Trout  and  all 
dear  to  you  the  best  year  of  all  so  far.  The  good  Lord  bless 
you  with  his  wondrous  grace. 

Ever  your  friend, 

A.  McLean. 

There  were  no  idle  hours  in  Mr.  McLean  ?s  days,  and 
he  lost  no  time  in  trivial  pursuits  or  in  dawdling  over 
his  serious  tasks.  He  rose  at  five,  dressed  quickly, 
read  his  Greek  New  Testament  and  prayed,  and  then 
read  or  wrote  until  breakfast.  In  Cincinnati  he  made 
it  a  rule  to  walk  to  the  office  and  covered  the  distance 
in  forty  minutes  at  a  brisk  pace,  always  keeping  a 
little  in  advance  of  his  companion,  and  talking  freely 
and  cheerfully  as  they  strode  through  the  park,  down 
the  hillside  and  along  the  business  streets.  Morn¬ 
ing  and  evening  he  bought  a  paper,  usually  from  an 
old  woman  near  the  office.  After  a  day  at  the  office  he 
was  silent,  took  the  Zoo-Eden  car  as  quickly  as  pos¬ 
sible  and  after  reaching  home  read  until  dinner  time. 
If  there  was  a  meeting  at  the  church  in  the  evening  he 
would  take  the  long  walk  again.  Most  of  Iris  other 
evenings  he  spent  in  his  rooms  in  systematic  study. 

In  preparing  to  write  an  address  or  in  pursuing 
some  subject  that  had  appealed  to  him  he  would  lay 
the  books  which  he  wished  to  consult  on  the  floor,  face 
downward,  in  a  circle  around  his  chair.  Then  he  would 
consult  and  compare  and  make  notes  until  he  had  com¬ 
piled  all  the  material  he  could  utilize.  From  these 
notes  he  wrote  with  a  pencil  or  pen,  making  but  few 
changes  or  corrections.  Next  he  copied  the  manu¬ 
script  on  his  own  typewriter,  perhaps  more  to  familiar¬ 
ize  himself  with  its  phrasing  than  to  alter  it.  This 
draft,  after  another  revision,  he  turned  over  to  his 
stenographer  to  retype.  Of  many  of  his  unpublished 


208 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


addresses  lie  had  preserved  all  three  of  these  drafts, 
but  after  a  thing  was  published  his  custom  was  to 
destroy  all  copies  of  the  manuscript.  Evidently  he 
felt  that  what  is  printed  is  printed  rather  than  ‘ 4  what 
is  written  is  written.’  ’  Only  rarely  and  on  the  most 
formal  occasions  did  Mr.  McLean  ever  read  an  address 
to  his  audience.  Through  long  practice  and  great  con¬ 
centration  he  was  able  to  deliver  his  message  in  almost 
the  exact  form  in  which  he  had  written  it. 

His  studies  were  not  always  in  preparation  for  ad¬ 
dresses  or  in  the  direct  line  of  his  work.  Once  he  spent 
a  month  on  the  book  of  Revelation.  Again  he  would 
take  some  theme  and  follow  it  through  the  Bible.  Dur¬ 
ing  the  World  War  he  was  not  satisfied  with  news¬ 
paper  and  magazine  reports,  but  got  military  books 
and  made  a  careful  study  of  the  titanic  conflict  as  it 
progressed.  All  the  while  his  heart  was  wrung  with 
distress  over  the  millions  of  young  men  being  sent 
into  the  work  of  destruction  and  over  all  the  woes  and 
wrongs  that  were  involved  in  the  struggle.  Again  and 
again  he  cried  out,  “Doesn’t  it  seem  that  the  race  is 
morally  bankrupt!”  At  the  same  time  he  appreci¬ 
ated  and  shared  in  all  the  idealism  which  the  problems 
and  demands  of  the  war  called  forth.  More  clearly 
than  ever  before  he  saw  missions  as  the  “moral  sub¬ 
stitute  for  war”  for  which  William  James  had  asked. 
If  only  the  instigators  of  the  war  had  been  moved  by  a 
passion  for  evangelizing  the  world  instead  of  an  ambi¬ 
tion  for  conquering  it! 

In  his  later  years,  many  of  his  friends  urged  Mr. 
McLean  with  increasing  insistence  to  give  his  entire 
time  to  writing.  His  feeling  on  the  subject  he  indi¬ 
cated  by  the  reply  he  made  to  the  Grays,  as  given 
above,  and  to  Dr.  S.  M.  Cook  of  Cygnet,  Ohio.  “I 
write  all  that  is  in  me.  If  I  wrote  more  it  would  be  so 
diluted  there  would  be  nothing  in  it.”  His  writings 


“INTERCESSORY  PRAYER” 


209 


were  the  natural  outgrowth  of  his  life  and  work.  To 
sit  apart  and  write  for  the  sake  of  writing  did  not  ap¬ 
peal  to  him  at  all.  Always  he  was,  and  always  he 
wanted  to  be,  in  the  thick  of  the  fight. 

We  know  how  the  slowness  of  his  people  to  recognize 
the  primary  place  of  missions  in  Christianity  disap¬ 
pointed  and  distressed  him.  Doubtless  their  lack  of 
interest  in  prayer  grieved  him  still  more  deeply.  Most 
of  the  things  that  he  published  his  brethren  accepted 
and  many  of  them  they  even  acclaimed,  but  on  beyond 
us  there  lies  his  leaflet  on  Intercessory  Prayer  which 
the  Men  and  Millions  Movement  circulated  widely, 
without  developing  an  insistent  and  popular  demand. 
One  of  the  most  cheering  things  of  his  last  year  was 
that  in  the  state  conventions  they  asked  such  messages 
from  him.  So  hungry  were  the  people  for  them  that 
he  had  to  give  one  each  day,  and  the  states  which  en¬ 
joyed  them  in  1920,  and  others,  had  already  asked  for 
similar  instruction,  at  the  conventions  of  1921,  in  the 
invisible  things  that  are  eternal.  Happily  there  are 
perfect  manuscripts  of  these  later  studies  in  the  words 
and  the  ways  of  God. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
THE  MESSAGE  OF  THE  MAN 

T*HRKE  BOOKS  WHICH  SUM  UP  HIS  MESSAGE — NOTABLE  CHAPTERS  IN 
"WHERE  THE  BOOK  SPEAKS” — QUOTATIONS — “EPOCH  MAKERS  OF  MODERN 
MISSIONS'” — BROAD  SYMPATHIES  AND  HIGH  IDEALS — JESUS  CHRIST'S  MEN — 

“THE  PRIMACY  OF  THE  MISSIONARY” — FOUR  THESES  OF  THE  BOOK - THE 

MISSIONARY  IDEA  OUTSIDE  OF  MISSIONS — THE  FINE  ART  OF  HONESTY. 

THREE  books  written  by  Archibald  McLean  pre¬ 
sent  the  message  of  the  man  in  such  a  definite  and 
comprehensive  way  that  they  call  for  more  particular 
attention  than  the  preceding  chapter  gave  them.  They 
are,  Where  the  Book  Speaks,  Epoch  Makers  of  Modern 
Missions  and  The  Primacy  of  the  Missionary .  Setting 
these  three  apart  does  not  minimize  his  other  writings, 
but  simply  indicates  that  most  of  that  which  was  essen¬ 
tial  and  characteristic  in  them  he  has  gathered  up  and 
presented  more  effectively  in  these.  We  could  offer 
no  other  excuse  for  allowing  Missionary  Addresses  to 
remain  out  of  print.  A  Circuit  of  the  Globe  was,  both 
in  its  origin  and  character,  an  extensive  and  effective 
piece  of  journalism.  The  History  of  the  Foreign 
Christian  Missionary  Society  is  an  authoritative  rec¬ 
ord  of  events  in  which  the  writer  was  the  chief  actor, 
but  its  interest  is  necessarily  restricted  almost  exclu¬ 
sively  to  one  body  of  evangelical  Christians.  A  similar 
limitation  rests  upon  the  two  Campbell  brochures 
while  the  Hand  Book  is  further  eliminated  by  its  age. 
The  three  books,  however,  are  both  miiversal  and  age¬ 
less.  Their  reading  should  spread  as  Christianity  in¬ 
creases  and  continue  as  long  as  heroism  commands 
admiration. 


210 


“WHERE  THE  BOOK  SPEAKS” 


211 


Where  the  Booh  Speaks  is  addressed  to  all  who  ac¬ 
cept  the  Bible  as  the  Word  of  God  and  the  New  Testa¬ 
ment  in  particular  as  their  rule  of  faith  and  practice. 
Both  the  title  and  the  constant  appeal  to  the  Scriptures 
are  reminiscent  of  Thomas  CampbelPs  memorable 
motto,  “Where  the  Scriptures  speak  we  speak,  where 
the  Scriptures  are  silent  we  are  silent.”  The  book  is 
no  mere  marshaling  of  proof-texts,  but  a  warm  and 
glowing  exposition  of  the  very  heart  of  God’s  revela¬ 
tion.  The  writer  is  not  trying  to  prove  a  proposition 
but  to  unfold  the  divine  plan  of  the  ages,  to  enable  the 
reader  to  “think  God’s  thoughts  after  him.”  The 
volume  is  not  an  excursion  in  polemics  which  leaves 
one  cold,  whether  convinced  or  not,  but  a  walk  to 
Emmaus  which  illumines  the  soul  and  turns  the  feet 

forever  toward  the  Citv  of  God. 

* 

In  Where  the  Book  Speaks  the  reader  may  well  be¬ 
gin  with  chapter  XVIII,  “Make  Me  a  Little  Cake 
First.”  (All  three  of  these  books  should  be  read  a 
chapter  a  day.)  Whether  he  reads  it  first  or  eighteenth 
or  last  he  will  read  it  more  than  once.  Next  to  it 
properly  comes  “A  God  That  Loves  Us.”  In  these 
two  chapters  Archibald  McLean  has  unconsciously  and 
beautifully  revealed  his  own  missionary  passion  and 
spiritual  idealism,  while  setting  forth  the  two  hemi¬ 
spheres  of  God’s  relation  to  his  children.  First,  of 
course,  comes  God’s  love,  and  then  inevitably  our  de¬ 
votion  to  him.  He  exclaims,  “  ‘A  God  that  loves  us!’ 
No  stranger  or  more  joyful  truth  was  ever  heard  in 
the  lands  of  darkness.  They  have  ten  thousand  times 
ten  thousand,  and  thousands  of  thousands  of  gods,  but 
in  all  that  countless  host  there  is  not  one  that  loves  or 
cares  for  human  beings.”  “In  the  Koran  there  are 
ninety-nine  names  for  God,  but  father  is  not  one  of 
them.”  Of  the  human  side  of  the  relation  he  says, 
“A  child  of  God  is  not  to  put  his  own  claims  first;  he 
is  to  recognize  the  priority  of  God’s  claims.  God  is 


212 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


not  a  beggar  asking  alms  or  the  crumbs  that  fall  from 
our  tables/ ,  Referring  to  the  tendency  to  magnify 
the  local  church  above  the  worlds  redemption  he 
writes,  “The  apostles  evangelized  the  Roman  empire 
without  a  choir  or  a  pipe  organ  or  even  a  church  build¬ 
ing.”  “The  missionary  enterprise  is  belittled  and  put 
on  a  wrong  basis  when  Christian  people  are  asked  to 
save  a  nickel  or  a  dime  from  their  cigars  or  from  their 
chewing  gum  or  some  other  luxury.  ”  “  Our  Lord  did 
not  give  that  which  did  not  cost  him  anything.” 

Other  chapters  present  these  central  themes  from 
other  angles.  It  is  difficult  to  say  which  is  the  princi¬ 
pal  facet  of  a  diamond;  even  so  each  of  these  twenty- 
one  chapters  is  fundamental.  In  the  first  chapter  he 
declares,  “His  (Christ’s)  aims  and  purposes  were  not 
parochial  or  provincial  or  even  national;  they  were 
universal.  He  was  the  original  imperialist.  *  *  *  * 
What  the  vertebral  column  is  to  the  human  body  that 
the  missionary  idea  is  to  the  New  Testament.”  The 
several  divisions  of  the  New  Testament  he  character¬ 
izes  thus: 

The  Gospels  culminate  in  the  great  commission.  All  that 
goes  before  leads  up  to  this  and  prepares  for  it.  All  that 
follows  in  the  New  Testament  is  a  result  of  the  carrying  out 
of  the  commission  by  the  apostles  and  their  associates.  *  * 
*  *  The  Acts  is  first  of  all  and  last  of  all  and  most  of  all 
an  inspired  record  of  the  missionary  activity  of  the  church 
in  the  first  decades  of  its  existence.  *  *  *  *  The  Epistles, 
what  are  they?  For  the  most  part  they  are  letters  written 
by  missionaries  to  missions  which  they  had  founded.  *  #  *  # 
The  book  of  Revelation  is  a  forecast  of  the  final  victory,  when 
all  rule,  and  all  authority,  and  all  power  opposed  to  Christ 
shall  be  abolished,  and  when  he  shall  reign  from  pole  to  pole 
with  undivided  and  undisputed  sway. 

Of  the  ‘  ‘  Five  Loaves  and  Two  Fishes  ’ 9  he  says : 

To  my  mind  the  pathos  of  this  situation  arises  not  from  the 
fact  that  there  were  so  many  people  present,  and  that  they 
were  weary  and  hungry,  and  that  they  had  no  food  and  no 


CHRIST  THE  BASIS  OF  UNITY 


213 


funds  with  which  to  buy  food:  the  pathos  of  the  situation 
arises  from  the  fact  that  the  disciples  had  no  faith  in  their 
Lord  as  a  source  of  supply.  *  *  *  *  We  forget  that  this 
is  His  work,  and  not  ours.  We  forget  that  He  is  the  chief 
partner  in  the  concern  and  that  He  is  pledged  to  see  the  en¬ 
terprise  through,  and  that  He  will  do  so  if  only  we  do  our 
part.  We  forget  that  the  treasures  of  the  universe  are  in  His 
hands  and  that  therefore  He  is  abundantly  able  to  finance  the 
scheme.  We  take  stock  of  our  resources  and  we  say  that  what 
is  proposed  is  impossible.  *  #  *  *  I  do  not  know  of  any 
great  cause  where  all  the  funds  needed  for  its  support  were 
in  hand  when  it  began.  Some  soul  was  faithful  and  did  all  he 
could  and  God  raised  up  others  to  help,  and  sent  the  money 
to  defray  the  necessary  expenses. 

Concerning  “The  Divine  Order  in  Missions”  he 
writes : 

The  use  often  made  of  the  passages  relating  to  the  priority 
of  the  Jew  in  point  of  gospel  privilege  finds  no  warrant  in 
Holy  Writ.  It  is  perfectly  proper  to  carry  on  work  in  one’s 
own  neighborhood,  but  it  is  not  necessary  to  pervert  Scrip¬ 
ture  to  do  that.  Every  little  town  in  Christendom  is  not  Je¬ 
rusalem;  and  the  Anglo-Saxon  is  not  a  Jew.  These  passages 
applied  only  to  the  Jew,  and  to  the  Jew  for  very  special  rea¬ 
sons.  No  part  of  the  world  has  any  primacy  or  priority  now, 
unless  it  be  that  part  whose  need  is  greatest. 

The  concluding  chapter  is  entitled,  “Christian  Unity 
and  World-Wide  Evangelism.”  Four  brief  passages 
suggest  his  thought. 

Christ  himself  is  the  only  basis  of  unity.  We  can  unite  on 
him:  we  cannot  unite  on  a  theory  of  the  atonement  or  of 
inspiration,  or  upon  the  five  points  of  Calvinism,  or  on  the 
five  points  of  Arminianism.  *  *  *  *  It  is  not  necessary 
for  us  to  have  complete  and  exact  knowledge  about  Christ  and 
the  method  of  his  salvation.  It  is  necessary  that  we  put  our 
trust  in  him  and  do  his  commandments.  *  *  #  #  If  we 

do  our  own  thinking  we  may  come  to  conclusions  differing 
from  those  reached  by  others.  No  matter  as  to  that,  if  we 
hold  fast  to  Christ  as  our  Redeemer  and  Lord  and  do  what 
he  has  commanded.  Our  ground  of  unity  is  in  him  and  not 
in  our  opinions  or  in  our  reasoning  processes.  *  *  *  *  The 


214 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


unity  which  springs  from  the  blended  life  of  the  various  and 
even  contradictory  elements  in  the  church  will  prove  the  real¬ 
ity  of  its  divine  origin. 

He  closes  the  chapter  and  the  volume  with  the  fol¬ 
lowing  words: 

What  is  needed  now  on  the  part  of  all  who  Avould  make 
Jesus  King  is  that  they  forget  all  differences  and  all  dissen¬ 
sions  and  unite.  By  so  doing  they  will  hasten  the  time  when 
great  voices  shall  be  heard  in  heaven  saying,  “The  kingdom 
of  the  world  is  become  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  of  his 
Christ,  and  he  shall  reign  forever  and  ever.  ” 

Wherever  denominational  barriers  stood  between 
Archibald  McLean  and  other  Christians  they  had  to  be 
built  and  maintained  entirely  from  the  other  side.  A 
man  of  sectarian  spirit  could  not  have  written  Epoch 
Makers  of  Modern  Missions,  This  book  shows  him  to 
be  as  free  from  denominational  bigotry  as  from  racial 
prejudice.  Of  the  sixteen  missionary  heroes  described 
in  the  volume  only  one  belonged  to  the  writer’s  own 
communion  and  only  two  or  three  to  the  church  of  his 
ancestors.  He  speaks  of  each  as  an  ambassador  of 
Christ  and  mentions  only  incidentally,  if  at  all,  the 
society  through  which  he  was  supported;  and  leaves 
that  as  the  only  clew  to  the  individual’s  denomination. 
In  the  early  days  of  modern  missions  that  was  not  a 
clear  index ;  nor  is  it  now. 

Evidently  he  took  pains  to  make  the  list,  which  ap¬ 
pears  in  the  preceding  chapter,  representative  in  three 
respects:  the  periods  in  which  they  served,  the  people 
to  whom  they  went  and  the  methods  which  they  used 
to  win  acceptance  for  the  gospel,  the  last  being  deter¬ 
mined  in  large  measure  by  the  type  of  the  man  him¬ 
self  and  the  condition  of  the  people  among  whom  he 
labored.  There  is  a  range  of  a  century  and  a  half  from 
the  pioneer  work  of  Swartz  in  South  India  to  the  brief 
dav  of  Loftis  on  the  border  of  Tibet.  But  all  of  whom 


“EPOCH  MAKERS  OF  MISSIONS” 


215 


Mr.  McLean  speaks  between  these  two  were  also  pio¬ 
neers,  and  still  there  are  new  fields  to  be  entered. 
There  is  a  great  difference  between  the  savage  canni¬ 
bals  of  Polynesia  and  Africa  and  the  people  of  India, 
China  and  Japan,  whose  civilization  antedates  our  own 
by  thousands  of  years,  and  yet  the  simple  recital  of  the 
gospel ’s  acceptance  shows  that  it  was  as  sorely  needed 
in  one  place  as  in  the  other.  In  the  course  of  these 
sixteen  recitals  we  see  concrete  examples  of  explora¬ 
tion,  medical  science,  the  industrial  arts,  education 
and  philanthropy  being  utilized  as  aids  to  the  pres¬ 
entation  of  Christ.  While  making  his  readers  ac¬ 
quainted  with  this  interesting  and  inspiring  group  of 
personalities  in  strange  lands,  among  alien  peoples  and 
in  every  variety  of  extraordinary  and  exciting  situa¬ 
tions,  the  author  gives  a  comprehensive  view  both  of 
the  history  and  of  the  technique  of  missions. 

The  subjects  of  these  sixteen  sketches  were  about  as 
different  as  the  same  number  of  men  could  be.  One 
was  German,  one  Dutch,  three  American,  four  Scotch 
and  seven  English,  but  there  are  wider  divergences  be¬ 
tween  men  in  any  one  nation  than  between  the  aver- 
ages  of  two  nations.  Livingstone  and  Duff  and  Chalm¬ 
ers  were  three  distinct  sorts  of  Scots,  while  Patteson 
and  Hunt,  Carey  and  Williams  demonstrated  liow 
various  are  the  types  of  men  who  call  old  England 
home.  Mr.  McLean  makes  no  effort  either  to  differen¬ 
tiate  unduly  these  individualities  or  to  reduce  them  to 
a  common  type.  He  indulges  in  no  flights  of  imagina¬ 
tion  to  make  his  subjects  more  attractive,  but  presents 
the  essential  facts  in  the  career  of  each  and  the  vital 
elements  in  his  character  with  straightforward  sim¬ 
plicity.  The  directness  and  succinctness  of  the  narra¬ 
tive  command  the  reader’s  confidence.  There  is  reality 
in  every  line.  Not  only  so,  but  it  is  also  reality  on  a 
high  plane.  It  is  good  to  tarry  in  such  an  atmosphere; 
it  is  great  to  know  such  men.  For  every  one  of  them 


216 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


some  such  word  as  Mr.  McLean  quotes  from  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson  regarding  James  Chalmers  would  be 
justified,  “The  most  attractive,  simple,  brave  and  in¬ 
teresting  man  in  the  whole  Pacific.  ’  ’ 

With  all  of  their  variations  one  thing  in  common 
emerges  from  all  of  these  accounts;  each  of  these  pio¬ 
neer  missionaries  was,  above  everything  else,  Jesus 
Christ’s  man.  That  was  why  Archibald  McLean 
wanted  his  prospective  missionaries  to  know  them.  He 
wanted  them  to  be  linguists  and  teachers  and  physi¬ 
cians  and  industrialists  and  executives,  but  most  of  all 
he  wanted  them  to  know  J esus  Christ  ‘  ‘  and  the  power 
of  his  resurrection.”  He  judged  rightly  that  there 
was  no  more  effective  way  of  bringing  them  into  such 
a  fellowship  of  peace  and  power  than  through  ac¬ 
quaintance  with  the  most  illustrious  of  the  men  who 
had  gone  before  them  in  missionary  service.  Four  of 
these  had  been  slain  by  the  people  whom  they  loved 
and  whom  they  served,  but  they  had  laid  down  their 
lives  cheerfully  as  a  part  of  their  “fellowship  with 
His  suffering.  ’ 9  Three  others  had  fallen  victim  to  the 
deadly  maladies  of  the  lands  where  they  labored.  All 
the  rest,  like  the  first  and  chief  missionary  of  Christ, 
“died  daily”  and  still  were  spared  to  continue  ten, 
twenty,  fifty  years.  If  any  had  misgivings  about  the 
fitness  of  his  field  for  his  talents,  he  had  only  to  reflect 
upon  John  Coleridge  Patteson,  the  gifted  graduate 
of  Oxford  University,  going  unhesitatingly  to  his  mar¬ 
tyrdom  on  a  cannibal  island,  while  William  Carey, 
the  Baptist  cobbler,  was  allowed  a  full  lifetime  and 
distinguished  honors  in  proud  and  ancient  India.  The 
missionary  who  had  mastered  his  “most  gladly  there¬ 
fore”  in  such  company  would  be  ready  in  advance  to 
“burn  out  for  Christ”  in  fifty-six  days,  like  Zenas 
Sanford  Lof tis,  or  ‘  ‘  endure  hardness  as  a  good  soldier 
of  Jesus  Christ”  for  fifty-four  years,  like  Robert  Mof¬ 
fat. 


JESUS  CHRIST’S  MEN 


217 


In  consenting  to  have  these  College  of  Missions  lec¬ 
tures  made  into  a  book  their  author  evidently  thought 
that  what  was  so  essential  for  young  missionaries  could 
not  fail  to  be  wholesome  for  either  young  or  old  church 
members  who  ‘ ‘ tarry  by  the  stuff.”  Certainly  the 
careful  and  general  reading  of  the  volume  would  im¬ 
press  the  church  with  the  fact  that,  only  the  fittest  and 
finest  of  her  sons  and  daughters  are  equal  to  mission¬ 
ary  service  and  that,  those  who  are  sent  forth  with 
divine  credentials  should  be  amply  supported  with 
money,  prayer  and  reenforcements. 

If  Archibald  McLean  had  never  published  The  Pri¬ 
macy  of  the  Missionary  we  might  have  thought  that 
Where  the  Book  Speaks  and  Epoch  Makers  of  Modern 
Missions  were  the  complete  halves  of  his  message,  but 
only  a  cursory  examination  of  his  last  book  is  needed 
to  convince  one  that  its  contribution  is  as  distinct  and 
vital  as  that  of  either  of  the  others;  that  indeed  it  is 
the  conclusion  of  which  the  others  are  the  major  and 
minor  premises.  In  reading  the  other  two  volumes 
one  may  not  get  beyond  marveling  at  the  devotion  of 
the  author  and  his  heroes  to  the  cause  of  missions  and 
resolving  that  henceforth  he  will  contribute  more  him¬ 
self.  But  if  he  brings  an  intelligent  mind,  an  earnest 
purpose  and  a  Christian  heart  to  the  study  of  The  Pri¬ 
macy  of  the  Missionary ,  he  will  not  get  through  the 
volume  before  he  begins  to  wonder  how  anyone  can 
call  himself  a  follower  of  Christ  and  hold  any  other 
attitude  than  that  of  the  author  and  all  of  the  mission¬ 
aries,  from  Paul  to  the  latest  Student  Volunteer.  Ac¬ 
tually  all  the  rest  of  Christ ’s  so-called  army  are  out  of 
step ! 

This  crowning  work  of  Mr.  McLean  deals  with  prin¬ 
ciples  rather  than  precepts,  though,  as  if  to  show  that 
he  would  not  in  the  least  minimize  the  commandment 
of  Christ,  he  puts  in  one  vigorous  chapter,  i  ‘  The  Com¬ 
mission  According  to  Matthew,”  in  which  he  gives 


218 


ARCHIBALD  MoLEAN 


ringing  emphasis  to  “All  authority,”  “All  nations,” 
“All  commandments”  and  “Always”.  “We  are  not 
at  liberty  to  select  the  easy  and  agreeable  things;  we 
are  to  do  whatsoever  He  has  directed  us  to  do.”  *  * 
*  “It  is  not  enough  that  we  understand  His  com¬ 
mandments  and  meditate  upon  them,  or  even  admire 
them;  we  are  to  observe  and  do  them.”  That  was  suf¬ 
ficient  for  him,  but  he  had  found  that  his  age  was  slow 
to  accept  authority,  though  it  be  clearly  divine.  It  is 
a  fashion  of  the  times  to  offer  excuses  for  not  obeying 
commandments,  to  plead  exemption  of  one  sort  or  an¬ 
other  from  duty,  to  argue  that  whatever  precept  is 
cited  does  not  apply  in  this  particular  case.  To  meet 
the  age  on  its  own  ground  Mr.  McLean  devotes  all  the 
other  twenty-one  chapters  of  the  book  to  principles 
with  which  one  can  no  more  argue  than  he  can  with 
gravitation.  Ten  chapters  elucidate  these  principles, 
six  exemplify  them  and  five  exalt  them  with  an  elo¬ 
quence  which  often  reminds  the  reader  of  Paul’s  most 
sublime  passages. 

Four  theses  run  through  the  volume:  the  solidarity 
of  the  human  race,  the  universality  of  the  gospel,  the 
unity  of  believers  in  Christ  and  the  final  certainty  of 
Christ’s  world-wide  dominion.  But  each  chapter  is 
complete  in  itself,  and  its  inevitable  conclusion  is  that 
of  every  other  chapter  and  of  the  entire  book.  Let  the 
reader  deny,  if  he  will,  everything  but  the  love  of  God, 
this,  the  author  shows,  is  “bed-rock  in  missions”. 
God’s  love  must  go  out  to  every  soul  in  all  the  world 
and  it  must  be  the  chief  business  of  those  who  know  it 
to  inform  all  the  rest.  If  one  is  disposed  to  question 
the  feasibility  of  missions,  Mr.  McLean  reminds  him 
of  God’s  promise  and  oath,  “As  I  live,  saith  the  Lord, 
to  me  every  knee  shall  bow,  and  every  tongue  shall 
confess  to  God.”  To  consider  anything  else  as  a  final 
possibility  is  to  make  God  less  than  God.  To  those 


“THE  PRIMACY  OF  THE  MISSIONARY”  219 


who  magnify  baptism  and  the  Lord’s  Supper,  he  brings 
the  conviction  that  neither  of  these  ordinances  can  be 
fully  appreciated  without  connecting  it  with  the  re¬ 
demption  of  the  whole  human  race.  The  Christian  who 
pleads  his  zeal  for  home  missions  to  exempt  himself 
from  foreign  missions  finds  here  a  chapter  that  carries 
him  beyond  anything  he  lias  yet  contemplated  in  con¬ 
cern  for  the  salvation  of  his  own  people,  and  then  con¬ 
cludes  unanswerably  that  a  thoroughly  Christian 
America  will  be  the  most  effective  vindication  of  the 
gospel  preached  abroad.  The  twenty-two  chapters  are 
thus  not  so  many  links  in  a  chain,  but  each  is  itself  a 
complete  and  unbreakable  chain. 

And  so  the  whole  round  earth  is  every  way 

Bound  by  gold  chains  about  the  feet  of  God. 

The  poets  and  prophets  of  the  new  day’s  highest 
idealism  will  find  that  the  missionaries  of  the  cross 
have  been  going  ahead  of  them  in  the  practical  realiza¬ 
tion  of  their  dreams  throughout  the  world.  The  author 
reminds  the  man  of  affairs  that: 

The  missionary  idea  is  not  peculiar  to  Christianity;  it 
belongs  to  all  departments  of  our  social  and  industrial  life. 
Almost  as  soon  as  a  great  book  is  written  it  is  translated  into 
all  languages.  A  great  disco veiy  or  invention  becomes  at 
once  the  common  property  of  mankind.  Commerce  goes 
wherever  human  beings  are  found.  Merchants  and  manufac¬ 
turers  demand  that  all  doors  be  kept  open  for  their  wares. 

*  *  *  *  Democracy  is  sweeping  over  the  earth  as  resist- 
lessly  as  the  dawn.  The  self-evident  truths  contained  in  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  and  in  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  are  becoming  known  and  accepted  wherever 
human  beings  live  and  think.  The  equality  of  all  before  the 
law,  the  inalienable  right  of  all  to  life  and  liberty  and  the 
pursuit  of  happiness  are  receiving  universal  recognition. 

#  *  •  #  Would  it  be  to  our  credit  if  political  and  com¬ 
mercial  agents  were  ready  to  go  into  all  the  world  to  sell  goods 
and  the  church  could  not  find  qualified  men  in  sufficient  num¬ 
bers  to  go  out  and  preach  the  gospel  where  the  name  of  Christ 


220 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


has  never  been  heard  ?  Will  it  be  to  our  credit  if  billions  of 
dollars  are  annually  invested  in  material  products  while  the 
churches  find  it  difficult  to  secure  the  small  amounts  they  do 
spend  in  the  evangelization  of  the  world? 

The  ground  of  Mr.  McLean’s  unfailing  confidence 
appears  in  such  passages  as,  “It  is  in  Christ  that  all 
things  are  summed  up.  Paul  finds  in  Christ  the  funda¬ 
mental  principle  of  the  creation,  and  the  one  rallying 
point  of  the  redeemed  on  earth  and  the  angels  of  light. 
Through  him  the  germ  of  eternal  life  has  been  intro¬ 
duced  into  the  world’s  chaos,  and  its  victory  over  the 
elements  of  disorder  and  death  is  assured.”  He  quotes 
Max  Muller’s  statement  that  Christianity  has  stricken 
the  word  “barbarian”  from  the  dictionaries  of  man¬ 
kind  and  replaced  it  with  the  word  “brother.”  This 
truth  he  illustrates  with  a  sweeping  review  of  the  prog¬ 
ress  of  internationalism  and  then  says,  4 4  The  mission¬ 
ary  enterprise  is  the  most  cosmopolitan  enterprise  in 
the  world.  Its  agents  are  in  all  lands,  and  are  preach¬ 
ing  the  gospel  to  all  peoples,  kindreds,  tribes  and 
tongues  and  nations.  There  is  no  people  too  distant 
or  too  degraded  to  be  sought  out  with  the  gospel  mes¬ 
sage.”  *  *  *  *  “Science  joins  revelation  in  dis¬ 

couraging  inconsiderate  pride  of  race,  of  sex,  of  birth, 
of  nation,  of  class,  of  religion,  and  in  encouraging  edu¬ 
cation,  cooperation,  strenuousness  combined  with  mod¬ 
esty,  and  equal  rights  and  opportunities  for  all  men 
and  women.  ’  ’  He  follows  Paul ’s  vision  of  the  Gentile 
world’s  being  presented  as  4  4  an  offering  acceptable  to 
God,”  after  the  likeness  of  the  perfect  oblations  in  the 
old  dispensation.  4  4  The  purpose  and  endeavor  of  all 
Christian  forces  is  to  present  a  redeemed  race  to  God ; 
a  race  characterized  by  intelligence,  justice,  sobriety, 
gentleness,  mercy,  considerateness,  holiness,  love.” 

Nowhere  is  Archibald  McLean’s  mastery  of  the  fine 
art  of  honesty  more  manifest  than  in  this  work.  He 
never  allows  his  enthusiasm  to  run  away  with  his 


THE  FINE  ART  OF  HONESTY 


221 


judgment.  He  uses  no  specious  arguments,  makes  no 
extravagant  claims,  never  “mistakes  rhetoric  for 
logic.’ ’  On  the  contrary  all  of  his  statements  have  the 
rugged  strength  of  restraint,  the  force  of  moderation, 
of  resources  in  reserve.  He  frankly  recognizes  the 
shortcomings  of  the  churches,  and  particularly  of  his 
own  communion,  as  when  he  speaks  of  “Christ  walk¬ 
ing  among  the  churches”  and  declares,  “He  knows!” 
And  then  he  tells,  in  passages  which  read  like  a  con¬ 
tinuation  of  the  eleventh  chapter  of  Hebrews,  of  the 
better  things  which  Christ  beholds  in  the  loyalty  and 
devotion  of  his  twentieth-century  disciples.  Here  he 
shows  us  “Christ  entering  into  his  glory.”  “Wher¬ 
ever  a  church  is  established  where  a  church  is  needed ; 
wherever  a  school  is  taught;  wherever  a  hospital  or 
dispensary  is  maintained ;  wherever  the  Bible  is  trans¬ 
lated  and  tracts  published;  wherever  orphans  are 
gathered  in  and  prepared  for  lives  of  usefulness  and 
nobleness;  wherever  womanhood  is  elevated  and  child¬ 
hood  protected;  wherever  people  are  taught  to  live 
clean  and  unselfish  lives,  there  Christ  is  honored  and 
there  he  enters  into  his  glory.” 


CHAPTER  XVII 

HEARTH  FIRES  ROUND  THE  WORLD 

UNIQUE  RELATION  TO  MISSIONARIES - THE  ONE  PRATER  CHRIST  COM¬ 
MANDED — MORE  THAN  FATHER - INFORMAL  COMMISSIONS - CHOOSING  MIS¬ 
SION  FIELDS — ESCORTING  AN  AMBASSADOR — LETTERS  FREQUENT  AND  VITAL - 

SOLICITUDE  FOR  DR.  SHELTON — DAILY  PRAYERS  FOR  ALL  MISSIONARIES  BY 
NAME — INTRODUCING  MISSIONARIES  AT  THE  CONVENTIONS — THE  ELDREDS — 
THE  DYES — MISS  EBERLE,  "EVEN  THESE  LEAST’'’ — BLESSED  IN  BLESSING. 

'T’HE  uniqueness  of  Archibald  McLean’s  position  in 
*■*  the  beginning  of  his  service  became  more  pro¬ 
nounced  at  every  stage  until  the  multitude  of  the  years, 
the  monumental  character  of  his  labors  and  the  finality 
with  which  he  completed  his  task  set  him  altogether 
apart.  His  career  is  without  parallel  among  the  Dis¬ 
ciples,  and  occupies  an  altogether  honorable  place  in 
the  entire  annals  of  missions.  Gradually  the  whole 
brotherhood  came  to  recognize  his  uniqueness,  but  the 
missionaries  accepted  and  capitalized  it  from  the  first. 

In  each  of  the  first  three  groups  of  missionaries  go¬ 
ing  out  to  non-Christian  lands  from  the  Disciples  of 
Christ  there  was  a  college-mate  of  Mr.  McLean:  G.  L. 
Wharton  who  went  to  India,  George  T.  Smith  to  Japan 
and  E.  T.  Williams  to  China.  Moreover,  Mrs.  W7har- 
ton  was  Emma  Richardson,  daughter  and  secretary  of 
Dr.  Robert  Richardson  of  Bethany,  and  Mrs.  Williams 
was  Carrie  Loos,  whose  father  was  Mr.  McLean’s 
chief  teacher  at  Bethany  as  well  as  one  of  his  most 
revered  friends  throughout  life.  In  a  fellowship  of 
half  a  million  souls  there  were  scarcely  half  a  hundred 
who  fully  shared  the  high  purpose  of  these  young  ad¬ 
venturers  for  God;  foremost  and  representative  of 


222 


UNIQUE  RELATION  TO  MISSIONARIES  223 


these  stood  Archibald  McLean.  Most  of  the  church 
members  of  that  day  looked  upon  the  missionaries 
as  queer,  fanatical,  presumptuous  and  visionary,  and 
upon  the  missionary  advocate  as  all  of  that  and  also  a 
violator  of  the  Scriptures  and  a  disturber  of  Israel.  He 
and  the  missionaries  were  comrades  in  ostracism  and 
execration.  On  the  other  hand  there  were  some  senti¬ 
mentalists  who  went  to  the  other  extreme  and  wanted 
to  put  the  missionaries  on  pedestals  and  all  but  wor¬ 
ship  them.  Mr.  McLean  understood  them  and  took 
them  at  their  true  value  as  men  and  women  who  were 
actually  doing  what  all  Christians  profess  to  do,  seek 
first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  his  righteousness,  to  him 
the  only  sane  and  sincere  course  for  a  disciple  of 
Christ  to  pursue.  Thus  they  were  comrades  in  recip¬ 
rocal  understanding  and  in  mutual  endeavor. 

Like  the  Apostle  Paul,  Francis  Asbury,  Henry 
Drummond  and  Phillips  Brooks,  Archibald  McLean 
was  wedded  only  to  his  work,  a  work  appointed  of  God 
for  him  to  do.  This  not  only  permitted  but  almost 
compelled  him  to  give  himself  more  freely  to  Ms  com¬ 
rades  in  divine  service  than  a  man  of  family  could. 
Correspondingly  the  missionaries  felt  free  to  claim 
his  time,  counsel  and  affection  as  they  could  not  those 
of  a  man  with  wife  and  children.  Both  he  and  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  magnified  marriage  but  recognized  his  as  an 
exceptional  case. 

The  intimacy  of  his  relationship  with  the  first  mis¬ 
sionaries  of  the  Foreign  Society  set  a  standard  for 
his  fellowship  with  all  who  followed  in  their  train,  and 
finally  extended  to  the  men  and  women  supported  by 
the  Christian  Woman’s  Board  of  Missions.  The  two 
societies  were  united  in  liis  heart  before  the  first  con¬ 
ference  on  union  was  held. 

Dr.  John  A.  Broadus  said  that  the  only  prayer  Jesus 
ever  commanded  his  disciples  to  offer  is  the  only  one 


224 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


they  never  do  offer.  This  prayer  was  that  the  Lord 
of  the  harvest  would  send  forth  laborers  into  his  har¬ 
vest.  Archibald  McLean  made  it  the  chief  prayer  of 
his  life.  He  offered  it  constantly,  fervently,  confi¬ 
dently.  Each  missionary  enlisted  for  the  fields  afar 
he  hailed  as  coming  in  answer  to  his  petitions.  Each 
candidate  who  presented  himself  for  the  service  he 
examined  and  investigated  thoroughly  to  make  sure 
that  he  came  of  God ’s  appointment.  When  he  and  all 
the  other  members  of  the  executive  committee  were 
thoroughly  satisfied  and  had  made  the  appointment,  he 
took  the  new  missionary  into  the  heart  of  his  heart. 
During  the  summer  of  1910  two  medical  students, 
whom  we  now  know  as  Dr.  Pearson  and  Dr.  Frymire 
of  Congo,  were  nursing  in  the  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium 
when  Mr.  McLean  came  for  his  brief  annual  rest. 
Whenever  they  were  off  duty  he  took  delight  in  talking 
with  them;  showing  an  eager  interest  in  their  imme¬ 
diate  work,  telling  jokes  and  discussing  the  life  task 
ahead  of  them.  As  the  Sanitarium  observes  the  sev¬ 
enth  day  as  its  day  of  rest,  there  was  no  time  on  Sun¬ 
day  for  the  Disciples  working  there  to  go  to  the  Chris¬ 
tian  Church.  This  led  them  to  arrange  for  a  brief 
service  of  their  own  in  the  old  college  building  Sunday 
afternoons,  in  which  Mr.  McLean  greatly  assisted 
them.  He  never  took  a  vacation  from  his  religion  and 
he  enjoyed  his  friends  too  much  to  wish  for  even  a 
little  while  to  escape  from  their  companionship. 

The  missionaries  spoke  of  Mr.  McLean  as  a  father 
to  them  all,  but  the  term  is  inadequate.  Ordinary 
parenthood  must  express  itself  first  in  caring  for  the 
child ’s  physical  welfare,  and  generally  fails  to  get  en¬ 
tirely  away  from  that  as  a  first  consideration.  Mr. 
McLean  escaped  that  bias.  He  was  a  father  to  the  mis¬ 
sionary’s  soul.  At  the  same  time  he  avoided  the  par¬ 
ent’s  habit  of  underestimating  his  child’s  age  and  re- 


MORE  THAN  FATHER 


225 


sponsibility.  Positive  as  were  his  convictions  and  pro¬ 
nounced  his  opinions  on  all  important  matters,  he  al¬ 
ways  respected  the  missionary’s  sovereignty  and  lib- 
ertv  and  insisted  that  others  should  do  so.  Each  must 
be  not  merely  a  man  in  his  own  right,  standing  on  his 
own  feet  and  carrying  his  own  responsibility,  but  also 
a  leader  and  emancipator  of  men  and  women  bound 
for  ages  in  traditions.  The  Christ  to  whom  they  were 
to  call  men  had  declared,  “If  therefore  the  Son  shall 
make  you  free,  ye  shall  be  free  indeed”  and,  “I  came 
that  they  may  have  life,  and  may  have  it  abundantly.  ’  ’ 

He  had  his  own  ways  of  showing  his  approval  and 
affection,  and  these  were  as  individual  as  were  his 
methods  of  commissioning  appointees.  Strictly  speak¬ 
ing,  no  one  ever  was  coimnissioned  until  the  College  of 
Missions  began  to  grant  diplomas.  Then  both  the 
number  of  missionaries  going  out  and  the  number  of 
persons  responsible  for  their  going  became  so  consid¬ 
erable  that  some  formality  seemed  necessary.  For 
many  years  he  carefully  avoided  everything  of  the 
sort.  Miss  Josepha  Franklin  wrote  to  the  society  in 
1892  expressing  her  desire  to  become  a  missionary. 
Several  months  later  Mr.  McLean  came  to  her  home 
church,  Anderson,  Indiana,  to  preach.  Early  in  his 
sermon  he  startled  the  whole  congregation,  and  most 
of  all  the  young  lady  herself,  by  announcing,  “In  a 
few  months  one  of  your  own  girls,  one  born  and  reared 
among  you,  will  go  out  as  a  foreign  missionary.  Then 
this  church  will  do  a  missionary  work  the  possibilities 
of  which  you  have  never  dreamed.”  The  prediction, 
if  not  its  suddenness,  has  been  fully  justified,  for  three 
other  missionaries,  Miss  Franklin’s  two  sisters  and 
Mrs.  George  E.  Springer,  have  followed  her  out  of  that 
church,  while  its  giving  has  advanced  from  hundreds 
to  thousands  of  dollars.  When  Miss  Mary  Lediard, 
now  of  Japan,  came  from  Canada  with  her  father  to 


226 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


meet  the  executive  committee,  after  the  interview  was 
over,  they  waited  in  another  room  to  hear  the  com¬ 
mittee’s  decision.  In  a  few  minutes  Mr.  McLean  came 
out,  hesitated  a  moment  and  then  looked  up  in  his 
quick  way  with  a  smile  breaking  over  his  face  and  ex¬ 
claimed,  4 4 Well,  Mary,  you  are  elected.  Dance  a  jig!” 
This  is  an  extreme  example  of  his  informality,  but  he 
never  indulged  in  heroics. 

Mr.  McLean  gave  as  much  care  and  prayer  to  select¬ 
ing  the  fields  of  the  missionaries’  labor  as  to  the  choice 
of  the  workers  themselves.  The  maps  demonstrate  to 
what  good  purpose  he  exercised  this  concern.  His  far- 
seeing  statesmanship  and  that  of  the  pioneers  of  each 
field,  as  well  as  the  executive  committee  at  home,  ap¬ 
pear  in  the  strategy  of  every  location;  each  is  central, 
in  the  heart  of  a  continent  or  of  a  great  nation.  The 
India  mission  is  in  the  Central  Provinces  and  the 
United  Provinces;  the  Japan  work  centers  in  Tokyo, 
the  capital  of  the  Empire;  in  China  the  chief  sta¬ 
tion  is  Nanking,  a  metropolitan  and  influential  city 
at  the  heart  of  the  Yangtse  valley;  the  chief  station  in 
Africa  is  Bolenge,  right  where  the  Congo  River  crosses 
the  Equator  and  only  six  miles  from  Coquilliatville, 
the  colonial  capital;  in  the  Philippine  Islands  Manila, 
the  capital,  is  headquarters  and  Laoag  and  Vigan  stra¬ 
tegic  centers  to  the  north ;  the  Tibetan  mission,  in  the 
center  of  Asia,  the  very  44 roof  of  the  world,”  crowns 
the  entire  system,  like  the  keystone  of  an  arch.  The 
Christian  Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  profited  by  Mr. 
McLean’s  counsel  in  selecting  the  geographical  heart 
of  Mexico,  the  provinces  of  Aguascalientes,  San  Luis 
Potosi  and  Zacatecas;  and  of  South  America,  the  re¬ 
public  of  Paraguay  and  the  Argentine  provinces  of 
Misiones,  Corrientes  and  Entre  Rios,  as  well  as  the 
metropolis,  Buenos  Aires.  There  is  practically  unlim¬ 
ited  room  for  expansion  in  every  case.  A  total  of 


ESCORTING  AN  AMBASSADOR 


227 


thirty  million  souls  look  to  the  representatives  of  the 
United  Christian  Missionary  Society  for  the  word  of 
life.  In  each  field  these  are  people  of  fine  physique, 
unusual  mental  capacity  and  excellent  moral  possibili¬ 
ties.  There  is  no  question  of  the  right  of  every  man 
everywhere  to  hear  the  gospel,  but  the  quickest  way 
to  reach  the  last  man  is  through  the  best  man. 

Distance  and  time  strengthened  Mr.  McLean’s  first 
devotion  to  the  missionary.  Through  correspondence, 
the  reading  of  missionary  biographies  and  magazines 
and  by  his  visits  to  the  fields,  he  kept  himself  fully 
informed  regarding  the  conditions  under  which  the 
missionary  lived  and  worked.  He  realized  vividly  the 
loneliness,  the  depressing  power  of  paganism  and  of 
oriental  religions  and  the  retarding  influence  of  many 
European  and  American  commercial  representatives 
in  mission  lands,  which  the  missionary  constantly  suf¬ 
fered.  Under  and  with  his  Lord  the  missionaries  were 
the  chief  object  of  his  love  and  loyalty.  The  constancy 
and  resourcefulness  of  his  fellowship  with  them  were 
unfailing  and  immeasurable.  The  missionaries  were 
his  children,  his  comrades,  his  parishioners,  his  agents, 
his  heroes.  He  seized  eagerly  every  chance  to  honor 
or  help  them  in  large  matters  or  small.  He  liked  to 
go  to  the  railroad  station  with  them  and  carry  their 
baggage.  When  W.  Remfry  Hunt  of  China  once  tried 
to  keep  him  from  taking  his  suitcase  Mr.  McLean  re¬ 
plied,  4 4  Would  you  do  me  out  of  the  honor  of  escorting 
an  ambassador?” 

To  Mr.  McLean  missionary  contributions  were  not 
impersonal  funds  but  the  very  life  and  health  and 
service  of  his  beloved  missionaries.  Any  amount  of 
labor,  privation  and  sacrifice,  by  himself  or  by  others, 
was  justified  if  it  served  this  end ;  nay  more,  he  found 
joy  in  depriving  himself  of  comforts  that  the  mission¬ 
aries  might  lack  nothing  needful.  The  “ rainy  day” 


228 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


which  again  and  again  consumed  the  savings  of  years 
was  not  some  personal  necessity  or  distress  among  his 
flesh-and-blood  relatives,  but  some  crisis  in  the  soci¬ 
ety’s  affairs  that  left  a  gap  between  its  receipts  and 
the  needs  of  the  missionaries. 

Careful  as  he  was  that  the  missionaries  should  have 
food  and  raiment  he  never  forgot  that  “the  life  is 
more  than  the  meat.”  Until  the  last  few  years,  when 
the  number  of  missionaries  became  so  great  as  to 
render  it  practically  impossible,  he  wrote  every  one 
of  them  a  personal  letter  at  least  once  a  month.  Out 
of  seven  years  in  Japan  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Clifford  S. 
Weaver  have  preserved  129  letters  written  them  by 
Mr.  McLean,  many  of  them  with  pen  and  ink  on  trains 
and  in  hotels.  This  correspondence  with  the  mission¬ 
aries  never  became  perfunctory  but  was  always  real 
and  vital  and  human.  He  followed  closely  all  the 
events  and  many  incidents  of  their  lives.  He  twitted 
Mrs.  Alexander  of  India  about  a  photograph  that 
showed  only  the  back  of  her  head  but  the  face  of  her 
baby;  he  congratulated  Dr.  Pearson  of  Africa,  on  his 
engagement  to  Miss  Utter,  on  their  marriage  and  on 
the  birth  of  their  daughter;  he  rejoiced  with  Mr. 
Moody  over  a  Free  Baptist’s  address  on  Christian 
union  at  the  annual  convention  in  India;  he  encour¬ 
aged  Dr.  Osgood  of  China  in  the  use  of  his  pen  as  well 
as  his  medicine  case;  he  made  it  a  rule  to  send  a  God¬ 
speed  to  the  steamer  for  every  departing  missionary 
and  a  hearty  word  of  welcome  to  every  one  arriving 
at  any  American  port  for  his  furlough.  It  would  not 
be  correct  to  say  that  he  had  no  favorites,  for  every 
one  was  a  favorite;  he  was  impartial  but  not  imper¬ 
sonal.  Any  other  in  Dr.  Shelton’s  place  he  would  have 
followed  with  the  same  solicitude.  The  tragic  dis¬ 
tance  from  home  and  the  perilous  hazards  of  the  Tib¬ 
etan  mission  gave  it  an  extraordinary  place  in  Mr. 


SOLICITUDE  FOR  DR.  SHELTON 


229 


McLean’s  mind,  and  Dr.  Shelton’s  appreciation  of  his 
constant  thoughtfulness  represents  fairly  the  feeling 
of  all  the  missionaries  in  all  the  fields.  Concerning 
Mr.  McLean’s  letters  Dr.  Shelton  wrote: 

Tachienlu,  May  3,  1914. 

Dear  Brother  McLean : 

Your  letter  of  October  10th  did  me  a  lot  of  good.  Your 
letters  always  do.  While  it  is  as  it  should  be  that  your 
monthly  letter  to  each  missionary  has  been  discontinued, 
don’t  forget  sometimes,  Brother  McLean,  to  send  to  each 
missionary  a  little  word  as  you  have  to  me.  You  are  a  father 
to  us  all,  and  it  does  us  much  good  and  we  go  out  with  a 
little  stronger  faith  and  a  stronger  determination  to  do  the 
best  that  is  in  us.  Mrs.  Shelton  and  I  read  with  much  pleas¬ 
ure  and  inspiration  the  little  booklet,  Education  for  Life ,  by 
Samuel  Chapman  Armstrong.  Mrs.  Shelton  remarked  as  we 
read  it,  “Brother  McLean  can  always  find  the  best  things.” 
Also  the  Daily  Readings  sent  for  Christmas.  We  are  reading 
them  every  morning.  You  are  very  dear  to  both  of  us  and 
for  what  you  have  meant  to  our  lives  we  thank  Him  and 
thank  you. 

A.  L.  Shelton. 

After  securing  permission  from  the  Dalai  Lama,  the 
first  ever  granted  to  any  missionary  to  visit  Lhasa,  Dr. 
Shelton  left  the  mission  headquarters  at  Batang  in  No¬ 
vember,  1919,  to  bring  his  family  out  to  the  end  of  the 
railroad  that  they  might  come  home  to  America,  while 
he  made  the  journey  to  the  Tibetan  capital,  which  he 
estimated  would  require  two  years.  Within  two  days 
of  the  terminal  at  Yunnanfu,  Chinese  bandits  seized 
him  and  held  him  for  ransom,  which  he  refused  to  per¬ 
mit  his  friends  to  pay.  All  winter  long  they  kept  him 
in  captivity  and  compelled  him  to  share  their  fugitive 
life  in  the  mountains  of  western  China.  Finally  a  tu¬ 
mor  developed  in  his  neck  and  made  further  endurance 
of  these  hardships  impossible.  At  the  point  of  death 
they  left  him  behind  under  guard.  The  rest  revived 
him  somewhat  and  he  escaped,  still  half-dead.  Irn- 


230 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


mediately  on  reaching  America  he  sought  an  operation 
for  relief  from  the  tumor.  Two  letters  from  Mr. 
McLean  reveal  somewhat  of  his  feeling.  The  watch 
which  he  mentions  in  the  second  letter  was  the  one 
which  he  gave  Dr.  Shelton  to  take  the  place  of  that 
which  the  Chinese  robbers  had  stolen.  Arthur  A. 
Everts  of  Dallas,  Texas,  from  whom  he  made  the  pur¬ 
chase,  volunteered  to  bear  half  the  cost. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  May  3,  1920. 

Dr.  A.  L.  Shelton, 

Mayo  Sanatorium,  Rochester,  Minnesota. 

Dear  Dr.  Shelton: 

Your  letters  written  at  Haiphong,  March  28th,  reached 
here  this  morning. 

I  am  writing  this  day  to  all  the  persons  whose  names  you 
have  given.  I  am  thanking  them  for  what  they  did  on  your 
behalf  and  on  behalf  of  us  all. 

I  presume  you  know  that  all  over  the  continent  and  all  over 
the  civilized  world  the  people  have  heard  of  your  captivity, 
and  tens  of  thousands  of  Christian  people  were  praying  night 
and  morning  for  your  release.  By  the  blessing  of  God  you 
have  been  released.  Our  hope  is  that  while  in  Rochester  you 
will  be  relieved  of  the  trouble  in  your  neck,  and  that  in  a  few 
months  you  will  be  restored  to  perfect  health.  The  sympa¬ 
thies  of  a  great  host  were  with  Mrs.  Shelton  and  the  girls. 
The  good  Lord  abundantly  bless  you  and  bless  them. 

We  are  proud  of  the  way  you  conducted  yourself  while  in 
captivity,  and  we  are  wonderfully  pleased  over  the  manner 
of  your  escape.  You  will  have  a  great  story  to  tell.  Millions 
of  people  will  be  anxious  to  see  you  and  to  hear  you  and  to 
rejoice  with  you. 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  McLean. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  May  22,  1920. 

Dr.  A.  L.  Shelton, 

Enid,  Oklahoma. 

My  dear  Dr.  Shelton : 

Yours  of  the  19th  has  been  received.  We  are  very  grate¬ 
ful  to  the  Lord  for  bringing  you  safely  through  the  opera- 


DAILY  PRAYER  FOR  MISSIONARIES  231 


tion.  We  rejoice  to  know  that  your  trouble  was  not  as  seri¬ 
ous  as  the  doctors  feared  it  might  be.  Evidently  there  is  no 
cancer  in  your  system. 

You  will  have  the  watch  and  a  copy  of  the  New  Testament 
to  take  the  place  of  the  one  you  have  worn  out.  It  will  be 
a  great  joy  to  us  to  see  you  at  the  conference  in  Indianapolis. 
The  Lord  be  praised  for  his  goodness  to  you  and  yours,  and 
to  us  also. 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  McLean. 

The  letters  of  the  missionaries  abound  with  refer¬ 
ences  to  the  books  which  Mr.  McLean  sent  them.  He 
was  always  on  the  lookout  for  things  that  he  thought 
would  interest  and  help  them.  At  each  national  con¬ 
vention  he  would  select  the  daily  paper  that  was  giv¬ 
ing  the  best  account  of  the  session  and  have  it  sent  for 
the  week  to  each  mission  station.  Every  enjoyment 
and  experience  that  came  into  his  life  he  weighed  with 
reference  to  the  possibility  of  passing  it  on  to  his 
world-girdling  family  circle. 

Being  preeminently  a  man  of  prayer  it  was  natural 
that  Mr.  McLean  should  follow  the  first  little  band  of 
missionaries  with  daily  thanksgiving  and  petitions  to 
God  on  their  behalf.  He  was  concerned  for  their 
safety  as  they  journeyed  across  the  seas,  for  their 
health  in  a  trying  climate,  for  their  success  in  finding 
a  satisfactory  location,  for  their  reception  by  the  peo¬ 
ple  to  whom  they  sought  to  present  the  gospel.  The 
day  never  came  when  he  felt  that  he  could  let  go  of 
God  for  them.  Always,  too,  they  and  he  were  crying 
for  reenforcements.  As  the  recruits  came  in  answer 
to  these  petitions  his  prayers  went  up  daily  for  them. 
As  children  came  into  the  homes  across  the  earth  they 
were  doubly  the  objects  of  his  solicitude  and  affection. 
He  began  with  eight  or  ten  individuals;  at  the  last  he 
was  praying  daily,  audibly,  earnestly,  discriminat¬ 
ingly,  for  several  hundred.  He  knew  where  each  one 


232 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


was  and  what  each  one  needed  and  he  made  known  his 
requests  unto  God  in  the  confidence  that,  in  so  far  as 
he  had  rightly  divined  the  need,  God  would  grant  what 
he  asked.  The  missionaries  knew  he  was  praying  and 
relied  upon  his  intercession  as  confidently  as  they  did 
upon  the  remittances  from  the  society’s  treasurer. 

In  all  these  ways,  and  in  every  other  possible  way  of 
human  helpfulness  and  fellowship,  Mr.  McLean  and 
the  missionaries  were  knit  together  in  a  relationship 
that  defies  description  and  taxes  the  imagination  of 
the  most  sympathetic  heart.  Next  to  the  Sunday  after¬ 
noon  communion  service  the  high  point  of  each  inter¬ 
national  convention  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  was  Mr. 
McLean’s  presentation  of  the  missionaries,  because 
everyone  saw  in  what  he  said  and  did  a  tenderness 
and  strength  of  proud  affection  that  gave  him  a  new 
appreciation  of  the  whole  human  race  and  a  new  zest 
and  hope  both  for  this  present  life  and  for  the  life  to 
come.  Frequently  in  later  years,  when  the  conven¬ 
tions  were  so  large  that  they  had  to  meet  in  great 
coliseums,  it  was  not  possible  for  most  of  the  people 
to  hear  the  names  of  the  missionaries  as  he  pro¬ 
nounced  them,  or  the  few  words  that  each  spoke  after 
his  introduction,  but  no  one  could  misunderstand 
the  smile  that  lighted  Mr.  McLean’s  countenance  or  the 
tenderness  with  which  he  touched  each  hero  on  the 
shoulder,  or  whisked  him  off  the  platform  with  the 
characteristic  flourish  of  his  handkerchief. 

The  circumstances  under  which  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Ray 
Eldred  died  were  especially  tragic.  They  were  sta¬ 
tioned  alone  at  Longa,  Africa,  a  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  miles  from  the  nearest  white  missionaries,  when 
a  virulent  fever  attacked  Mrs.  Eldred.  There  was  no 
way  of  sending  for  a  physician  except  by  canoe.  Be¬ 
fore  the  steamer  Oregon  could  bring  the  physician  she 
had  died  and  been  buried,  her  husband  making  her 


THE  ELDREDS  AND  THE  DYES 


233 


coffin  and  speaking  words  of  comfort  to  the  native 
church.  Eight  months  later,  while  carrying  the  gospel 
three  hundred  miles  farther  into  the  interior,  Mr. 
Eldred  was  overcome  while  swimming  a  small  river. 
Their  three  sons  were  at  home  in  America  and  were 
already  the  especial  objects  of  Mr.  McLean’s  solici¬ 
tude  and  care.  The  convention  of  that  year  met  in 
Toronto,  Canada,  and  gave  practical  expression  to  its 
profound  sympathy  with  the  orphan  lads  by  a  great 
communion  offering  in  their  behalf.  Then  Dr.  and 
Mrs.  Hugh  T.  Morrison  of  Springfield,  Illinois, 
adopted  them  as  their  own.  This  confirmed  again  the 
confidence  which  Mr.  McLean  had  often  expressed  that 
the  Lord  has  a  special  interest  in  the  children  of  mis¬ 
sionaries  sent  home  to  be  educated,  or  left  orphans, 
and  that  he  provides  for  their  physical  and  spiritual 
nurture. 

During  the  years  when  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Royal  J.  Dye 
were  in  Africa,  separated  from  their  two  little 
girls,  Polly  and  Dorcas,  who  were  in  America,  Mr. 
McLean  never  lost  an  opportunity  of  going  to  see 
them,  though  he  had  to  travel  out  of  his  way  to  reach 
their  railroad  station  and  then  hire  a  livery  horse  and 
drive  four  miles  out  to  the  farm  where  they  were  stay¬ 
ing.  He  never  went  empty-handed,  but  always  left 
fruit  and  toys  and  books  as  loving  reminders.  The 
little  girls  learned  to  love  dearly  this  friend  of  theirs 
who  wrote  them  tender,  personal  letters  at  the  time  of 
their  baptism  and  graduation  and  on  other  special 
days.  When  Dorcas  was  four  years  old  Mr.  McLean 
was  staying  a  few  days  in  the  Dye  home  in  Ionia, 
Michigan.  One  evening  she  climbed  up  in  his  lap  while 
the  others  were  talking.  Suddenly  she  looked  up  into 
his  face  and  said,  “If  I  had  two  papas  I’d  have  you  for 
the  other  one.”  He  threw  back  his  head  and  laughed 
in  his  pleased,  confused  way,  saying,  “Whatever  made 


234 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


you  think  of  that?”  This  friendship  deepened 
through  the  years  and  was  extended  to  little  Ella  too. 
The  days  and  weeks  preceding  the  birth  of  Polly  Dye 
in  Africa  were  fraught  with  anxiety  for  the  trio  in  the 
station  at  Bolenge.  Dr.  Dye  was  down  with  fever  and 
Mrs.  Dye  had  been  suffering  from  tropical  dysentery 
for  a  number  of  weeks.  The  food  supply  was  low  and 
nothing  suitable  for  sick  diet  was  available.  A  little 
devotional  book  arrived  from  Mr.  McLean,  the  key¬ 
note  of  which  was  “The  joy  of  the  Lord  is  your 
strength.  ’  ’  The  daily  reading  of  this  gave  them  cour¬ 
age.  Ten  years  later,  just  before  Ella  wms  born  in 
Eureka,  Illinois,  after  Dr.  Dye  had  returned  to  Africa, 
another  little  book  came  from  Mr.  McLean  with  that 
same  verse  on  the  title  page,  “The  joy  of  the  Lord  is 
your  strength.”  A  letter  also  came  closing  with  these 
words,  “I  am  praying  for  you  morning,  noon  and 
night, — for  you,  for  the  little  girls,  for  the  absent  fa¬ 
ther  far  away,  and  for  the  little  stranger  from  the 
skies.”  Thus  again  strength  and  courage  were  given 
in  time  of  trial. 

The  following  incidents  related  by  Miss  Edith 
Eberle,  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  could  be  duplicated 
by  any  of  the  hundreds  of  missionaries  whom  he  called 
into  the  work,  sent  forth  with  his  blessing  and  cheered 
on  in  their  labors. 

It  was  my  first  year  in  Bethany  College  and  he  had  come, 
as  his  custom  was,  to  spend  the  week-end.  He  spoke  to  a 
large  group  on  Friday  evening  at  the  college  chapel,  and 
was  announced  for  a  Saturday  afternoon  meeting.  It  was  a 
cold,  stormy  afternoon;  most  of  the  “preacher  boys”  had 
gone  for  their  Sunday  work  elsewhere,  and  I  suppose  that 
accounted  in  part  for  the  small  group  of  us  that  assembled 
in  the  old  chapel  to  hear  Mr.  McLean.  We  sat  near  the  stove 
on  one  side  of  the  room  and  he  spoke  to  us  on  Missionary 
Graves  as  Milestones  of  Progress.  I  have  never  forgotten  how 
intimately  he  spoke  of  those  who  had  died;  spoke  of  them 


4 ‘EVEN  THESE  LEAST” 


235 


as  very  dear  and  personal  friends.  And  I  have  since  learned 
how  he  did  so  regard  the  missionaries.  I  think  I  still  have 
the  notes  that  I  took  on  his  lecture  and  have  never  gotten 
away  from  the  strong  appeal  it  made  to  me.  I  had  not  yet 
decided  to  give  myself  to  missionary  work,  but  never  felt 
the  desire  or  need  more  strongly  than  that  day.  At  the  close 
of  the  service  he  gave  each  of  us  a  copy  of  his  Alexander 
Campbell  as  a  Preacher.  Whenever  I  see  that  book  in  my 
bookcases  I  am  reminded  of  that  cold  day  in  Bethany,  the 
small  group  in  the  chapel  and  most  of  all,  of  A.  McLean  as 
he  stood  in  front  of  us,  not  on  the  platform  but  on  the  floor 
near  us.  No  lecture  or  sermon  that  I  have  ever  heard  has 
ever  left  such  a  clear  impression,  and  of  no  other  have  I 
remembered  so  much. 

Just  before  I  left  Toledo  to  come  to  the  Philippines  the 
church  of  which  I  was  a  member  had  arranged  a  farewell  re¬ 
ception  for  me,  and  my  brother-in-law,  the  pastor,  had  writ¬ 
ten  to  Cincinnati  asking  for  a  speaker.  Mr.  McLean  came. 
He  arrived  rather  late  in  the  evening,  just  in  time  to  have  a 
belated  dinner  and  come  to  the  church  where  we  were  waiting 
for  him.  He  had  spoken  at  another  Ohio  town  the  night 
before,  hurried  back  to  Cincinnati,  and  then  on  to  Toledo  that 
afternoon  to  be  present  and  speak  at  my  reception.  As  soon 
as  the  reception  was  over  we  took  him  back  to  the  depot  for 
the  return  trip,  for  important  office  matters  needed  him  the 
following  morning.  I  felt  so  insignificant,  so  unworthy  to 
have  him  do  all  that  for  me  and  the  work  there.  As  I  said 
goodby  to  him  in  that  late  hour  at  the  Union  Station  in 
Toledo,  his  parting  words  stayed  with  me  like  a  benediction, 
as  indeed  they  were.  That  was  the  last  time  that  I  saw  Mr. 
McLean,  but  I  never  will  forget  how  gladly  and  willingly  he 
had  made  that  trip  and  with  no  thought  of  what  it  meant  to 
him,  two  nights  on  the  train,  additional  work  in  the  offices 
and  the  lack  of  rest.  And  it  was  so  that  he  ever  seemed  to 
give  himself. 

At  Vancouver,  when  I  was  sailing,  I  found  a  beautiful  copy 
of  the  New  Testament.  He  had  written  his  sister  in  Van¬ 
couver  of  my  being  in  the  city.  Thus  was  his  personal 
thought  for  the  missionaries.  And  when  I  realized  how  little 
he  knew  me,  how  many  others  there  were  for  him  to  be  think¬ 
ing  of,  people  whom  he  really  knew  in  a  more  personal  way, 
I  felt  the  greatness  of  his  interest.  His  letters  have  always 


236 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


been  the  same,  personal  and  helpful.  When  sorrow  has  come 
to  me  he  has  remembered  me  so  well  in  letters  and  there  is 
every  evidence  of  that  direct  interest.  It  has  all  seemed 
marvelous  to  me.  I  wish  that  I  could  get  into  words  what 
his  life  has  meant  to  me.  And  I  know  that  as  a  new  mis¬ 
sionary  I  was  not  known  to  him  as  those  who  have  been  tried 
in  longer  service.  So  the  marvel  to  me  has  been  his  interest 
in  “even  these  least.’ ’  His  loss  to  me  is  as  the  loss  of  a  life¬ 
long  friend.  We  all  felt  so  helpless,  so  alone  when  we  first 
knew  that  he  was  gone,  as  though  everything  was  over.  And 
I  have  often  thought  of  how  I  would  miss  his  welcome  when 
I  returned  and  visited  the  offices. 

It  was  given  to  Jessie  Brown  Pounds,  the  writer  of 
many  well  loved  gospel  songs,  to  divine  and  charac¬ 
terize  happily  the  extent  and  strength  of  Mr.  McLean’s 
international  ties. 

A  lonely  man  at  Christmas  time? 

The  thought  but  comes  and  quick  departs, 

Your  hearth  fires  burn  the  wrorld  around, 

Your  home  is  in  a  thousand  hearts. 

Out  of  Mr.  McLean’s  comradeship  with  the  mission¬ 
aries  there  came  a  richness  and  fulness  into  his  own 
life  that  was  past  estimation.  Every  man  on  every 
one  of  the  ten  world  fields  had  mystically  communi¬ 
cated  to  him  somewhat  of  his  strength;  every  woman 
in  the  service  had  somehow  imparted  to  him  a  little  of 
her  tenderness;  every  child  playing  the  games  and 
speaking  the  language  of  a  race  alien  to  its  blood  had 
given  his  big  friend  at  headquarters  a  bit  of  his  glad¬ 
ness.  And  the  Father  for  whom  every  family  in 
heaven  and  on  earth  is  named,  in  making  Archibald 
McLean  the  agent  and  channel  of  countless  blessings 
to  His  ambassadors  to  many  peoples,  granted  extraor¬ 
dinary  grace  and  power  in  the  very  process  of  his 
mission. 


CHAPTER  XVin 


LENGTHENING  THE  CORDS 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL — MISSIONARY  GROWTH  OF  DISCIPLES  IN  THIRTY 
YEARS — MUCKLEY  AND  MACKLIN — TRIBUTE  TO  COMRADES — IN  GOD'S  HANDS — 
NEXT  THIRTY  YEARS — ORIENTAL  COMMISSION  IN  1914 — PERSONAL  MESSAGES 
OF  MISSIONARIES — PANAMA  CONGRESS  OF  1916 — MEN  AND  MILLIONS  MOVB- 

MENT — ENLARGED  SIX  TIMES - CAMPAIGN,  1914-1918 - AN  EDUCATIONAL  AND 

SPIRITUAL  ENTERPRISE — MC  LEAN’S  STATEMENT  AS  PRESIDENT. 


OLLOWING  the  national  convention  at  Louisville, 


A  in  1912,  Mr.  McLean  published  in  The  Christian- 
Evangelist  of  November  7,  the  story  of  his  thirty  years 
of  service  in  the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Soci¬ 
ety.  The  frank  and  disinterested  manner  in  which  he 
gave  this  bit  of  autobiography  illustrates  his  unselfish 
way  of  considering  himself  and  his  own  work.  Both 
on  this  account  and  because  of  the  information  con¬ 
veyed,  several  paragraphs  are  reproduced  here. 

My  election  was  the  result  of  an  accident.  My  predeces¬ 
sor  took  the  Western  fever  in  the  middle  of  the  year  and  re 
signed  suddenly.  There  being  no  man  of  years  and  experi¬ 
ence  in  sight,  I  was  elected  to  serve  until  the  convention  in 
October.  I  have  been  in  harness  ever  since;  for  eighteen 
years  as  secretary  and  for  twelve  years  as  president. 

The  office  is  one  that  I  did  not  seek;  it  sought  me.  I  was 
elected  without  my  consent  or  knowledge.  I  was  elected  two 
days  before  I  was  informed  of  the  fact.  The  position  to 
which  I  was  called  is  one  I  never  would  have  chosen;  it  is  a 
position  for  which  I  never  felt  qualified.  I  had  another  pro¬ 
gram  in  mind.  But  coming  as  it  did,  I  regarded  the  call  as 
coming  from  God,  and  I  responded  in  the  spirit  of  a  soldier. 
I  have  been  in  office  ever  since  for  the  same  reason.  All  the 
while  my  inclinations  pulled  in  one  direction  and  my  sense 
of  duty  in  another. 


237 


238 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


What  were  we  as  a  people  doing  thirty  years  ago?  In  the 
year  1881  the  American  Christian  Missionary  Society  re¬ 
ceived  less  than  seven  thousand  dollars;  the  Christian  Wom¬ 
an’s  Board  of  Missions  less  than  eight  thousand;  the  Foreign 
Society  about  thirteen  thousand.  The  Board  of  Church  Ex¬ 
tension,  the  National  Benevolent  Association,  the  Board  of 
Ministerial  Relief  and  the  other  general  organizations  had 
not  yet  come  into  existence.  That  was  the  day  of  small  things 
both  at  home  and  abroad. 

Thirty  years  ago  there  was  only  one  church  among  us 
giving  as  much  as  one  hundred  dollars  a  year  for  foreign 
missions.  At  that  time  we  had  no  missionary  literature. 
The  Tidings ,  the  Intelligencer,  the  Home  Missionary ,  Busi¬ 
ness  in  Christianity  and  the  Christian  Philanthropist,  maga¬ 
zines  as  good  as  the  best  of  their  kind  in  the  world,  began 
to  be  published  later.  We  had  no  missionary  leaflets  or 
pamphlets  or  books  of  our  own.  There  were  no  missionary 
libraries  in  the  Sunday  schools  and  no  mission  study  classes 
in  the  colleges  or  Endeavor  societies.  There  were  no  mission¬ 
ary  volunteers  among  the  college  students.  When  I  asked 
the  president  of  one  college  if  he  would  not  arrange  for  some 
member  of  the  faculty  to  give  a  course  of  lectures  on  mis¬ 
sions  he  informed  me  that  there  was  no  member  of  the  fac¬ 
ulty  that  knew  enough  about  missions  to  give  more  than  one 
lecture  on  the  subject. 

The  changes  that  have  taken  place  in  the  meantime  have 
been  marvelous  and  most  gratifying.  In  1912  the  American 
Christian  Missionary  Society  received  for  both  branches  of 
its  work  $315,286.70.  That  society  is  aiming  to  raise  a  million 
dollars  before  the  Panama  Canal  is  opened  and  to  plant  a 
thousand  new  churches.  The  Church  Extension  Board  has 
over  a  million  dollars  in  its  treasury.  The  Christian  Wom¬ 
an’s  Board  of  Missions  received  $336,475.77  in  the  same  year. 
The  Foreign  Society  received  $400,728.44,  and  is  engaged  in 
an  effort  to  raise  a  million  dollars  over  and  above  its  regular 
income  for  equipment,  maintenance  and  enlargement.  Some 
of  the  friends  on  the  Pacific  Coast  were  so  stirred  by  this 
evidence  of  enterprise  that  they  started  a  second  million  of 
their  own  accord.  At  the  present  time  we  are  at  work  in  all 
the  great  fields  of  the  world.  Men  and  women  of  culture 
and  ability  are  going  out  in  ever-increasing  numbers  to  make 
Christ  ’s  saving  grace  and  power  known.  Churches  that  gave 


AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL 


239 


nothing  are  giving  liberally  to  sustain  the  work.  Our  col¬ 
leges  and  universities  are  preparing  missionaries  as  they  pre¬ 
pare  pastors  and  evangelists  and  teachers.  In  every  school 
there  is  a  band  of  volunteers  and  a  mission  study  class.  The 
College  of  Missions  has  an  able  faculty  and  a  complete  course 
of  study.  A  great  host  are  praying  for  the  interests  of  the 
kingdom  and  for  the  time  when  the  will  of  God  will  be  done 
on  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven. 

A  survey  of  thirty  years  discloses  a  number  of  things  that 
give  peculiar  satisfaction.  I  shall  mention  only  two  or  three 
of  these.  The  year  after  I  was  elected  I  visited  Bethany  to 
speak  to  the  students.  There  was  a  young  man  there  study¬ 
ing  for  the  law.  After  hearing  my  message  he  decided  to 
enter  the  ministry.  That  young  man  has  done  a  monumental 
work  for  the  kingdom,  a  work  far  greater  than  he  could  have 
done  if  he  had  been  the  greatest  lawyer  in  America,  or  even 
the  chief  justice  of  the  nation.  That  young  man  was  G.  W. 
Muckley,  and  while  the  world  stands  his  work  will  abide  and 
will  grow  from  year  to  year. 

Soon  after  my  visit  to  Bethany  I  wrote  an  editorial  on  the 
subject,  The  Laborers  are  Few.  A  young  physician  in 
Canada  read  it  and  offered  his  services  to  the  society.  That 
young  physician  was  Dr.  W.  E.  Macklin,  who  has  been  in 
China  healing  the  sick  and  preaching  the  gospel  for  more 
than  a  quarter  of  a  century.  Measured  by  any  standard,  Dr. 
Macklin  is  a  great  man;  measured  by  Christ’s  standard  he 
is  one  of  the  greatest.  Some  of  the  Chinese  regard  him  as 
Jesus  Christ  because  of  the  completeness  with  which  he  has 
incarnated  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ.  In  the  revolution  the 
Manchu  general  commanding  the  forces  in  Nanking  fled  in 
the  night.  The  next  morning  Dr.  Macklin  and  Frank  Gar¬ 
rett  went  out  and  took  command  of  the  army,  surrendered  it 
to  the  Republican  forces,  and  saved  the  city  from  destruc¬ 
tion. 

For  several  years  I  was  alone  in  the  work.  The  society  had 
no  stenographer  or  bookkeeper  or  helper  of  any  kind.  I  wrote 
all  the  letters;  I  folded  and  addressed  every  circular;  I  kept 
all  the  accounts.  In  1893  F.  M.  Rains  began  his  work  for  the 
society.  His  advent  marked  an  epoch  in  its  history.  He  is  a 
man  of  genius.  As  a  money  raiser  he  has  not,  and  never  had 
an  equal  among  our  people.  He  is  resourceful  and  tireless 
and  brings  things  to  pass.  He  and  I  differ  widely  in  the  mat- 


240  ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 

ter  of  temperament;  we  have  not  always  approached  every 
question  from  the  same  point  of  view;  we  have  not  always 
seen  eye  to  eye;  but  we  have  always  pulled  together  and  in 
the  same  direction,  and  in  nineteen  years  there  has  been  no 
jealousy  and  no  concern  about  how  the  honors  should  be  di¬ 
vided.  S.  J.  Corey  is  a  prince  in  our  Israel.  He  makes 
friends  for  the  cause  wherever  he  goes.  In  the  mission  rooms 
he  is  as  genial  an  associate  as  anyone  could  wish.  E.  W. 
Allen  served  for  two  years.  He  broke  down  opposition  and 
prejudice  and  sowed  good  seed  far  and  near.  C.  W.  Plopper, 
the  present  treasurer,  has  been  in  the  work  for  a  dozen  years. 
No  more  industrious  and  faithful  and  efficient  officer  lives. 
The  stenographers  and  typists  and  clerks  are  as  deeply  in¬ 
terested  in  the  society  as  if  it  were  their  own  property.  They 
are  ready  to  work  early  and  late  and  to  the  limit  of  their 
endurance  when  necessary,  and  to  them  the  honor  of  what  has 
been  achieved  is  largely  due. 

In  all  these  years  no  day  has  opened  or  closed  in  which  I 
have  not  prayed  for  the  missionaries,  that  they  might  be 
guided  and  kept  and  prospered  in  the  work  to  which  they 
were  called.  I  have  asked  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  send 
forth  laborers  into  his  harvest.  I  have  prayed  for  the 
churches  that  they  might  understand  the  program  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  be  in  sympathy  with  it  and  ready  to  do  all  in 
their  power  that  his  program  might  be  speedily  and  com¬ 
pletely  and  gloriously  realized.  My  heart ’s  desire  and  prayer 
to  God  for  myself  has  been  that  I  might  come  to  resemble 
Christ  more  and  more  in  heart,  in  thought,  in  character,  and 
in  conduct,  to  the  end  that  I  might  more  worthily  represent 
him  to  all  with  whom  I  have  to  do. 

One  of  the  first  comments  I  heard  after  my  election  was, 
“He  is  too  young.”  I  have  largely  outgrown  that  fault.  In 
a  little  while  people  will  be  saying,  “He  is  too  old.”  When 
that  time  comes  I  shall  be  glad  to  step  down  and  out.  Not 
only  so,  but  I  hold  myself  in  readiness  to  give  place  to  some¬ 
one  else  at  any  time,  if  the  brethren  wish  that  and  will  make 
their  wish  known.  If  I  could  have  my  wish,  I  would  like  to 
live  a  thousand  years  and  spend  every  one  in  giving  a  knowl¬ 
edge  of  Christ,  and  salvation  through  Christ,  to  the  nations 
that  know  him  not.  In  anjr  event,  I  would  like  to  be  con¬ 
nected  with  the  work  in  some  capacity  to  the  end  of  the  day, 
the  Lord  being  willing.  But  I  am  in  God’s  hands  and  am 


ORIENTAL  COMMISSION 


241 


absolutely  unconcerned  about  the  future.  I  have  honored 
him,  and  like  David  I  have  besought  him  that  he  will  not 
forsake  me  when  I  am  old  and  gray-headed.  And  so  I  rest 
in  his  love  as  securely  as  any  child  ever  rested  upon  a  moth¬ 
er’s  breast. 

One  closing  word:  What  will  the  next  thirty  years  see? 
I  do  not  know,  but  if  we  are  loyal  to  our  King,  by  that  time 
our  missionary  offerings  will  exceed  ten  millions  a  year ;  our 
missionaries  will  be  numbered  by  the  thousand ;  and  the  prin¬ 
ciples  for  which  we  plead  will  be  understood  and  accepted 
by  representatives  of  every  people  and  nation  and  tongue  and 
tribe  on  the  globe.  It  is  for  us  and  for  those  who  come  after 
us  to  make  the  next  thirty  years  immeasurably  more  glorious 
than  the  last  thirty  years  have  been.  Shall  we  not  joyously 
bend  all  our  energies  to  this  end? 

In  1914  a  commission  composed  of  Stephen  J. 
Corey,  R.  A.  Doan  and  W.  C.  Bower,  accompanied  by 
Mrs.  Doan  and  Austin  Doan,  spent  six  months  in  the 
Orient  studying  the  work  in  Japan,  China  and  the  Phil¬ 
ippines  and  conferring  with  the  missionaries  in  those 
fields.  An  interesting  by-product  of  their  trip  was  a 
book  of  letters  which  Mrs.  Doan  gathered  from  the 
missionaries  and  Austin  illustrated  with  photographs 
of  groups  from  the  different  stations.  The  title  page, 
printed  at  the  Christian  Mission  Press  in  Vigan,  Ilocos 
Sur,  Philippine  Islands,  reads: 

To 

ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 

Beloved  President 
of  the 
P.  C.  M.  S. 

From  Missionaries  in  the  Orient 

A  few  of  the  letters  follow. 


Vigan,  Philippine  Islands. 

Ever  since  the  days  when  as  a  student  I  saw  and  heard  you, 
the  president  and  a  professor  at  Bethany,  your  life  and 
words  have  been  an  inspiration  to  me.  Here  on  the  mission 


242  ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 

field  your  letters  and  unceasing  interest  have  aided  me  won¬ 
derfully. 

The  Lord  be  gracious  to  you  and  make  you  to  continue  a 
tower  of  strength  in  missionary  matters. 

W.  H.  Hanna. 

Manila,  Philippine  Islands. 

When  I  entered  Bethany  College  my  purpose  to  engage  in 
the  world's  work  was  partly  formed.  It  was  by  your  preach¬ 
ing  in  the  Bethany  pulpit  and  your  work  in  the  classroom 
that  this  purpose  was  matured. 

The  boyish  admiration  then  begun  has  continued  and  in¬ 
creased  and  is  a  source  of  ever  fresh  inspiration.  I  know  I 
am  only  one  of  many  so  influenced  and  I  am  glad  to  be  one. 

Bruce  L.  Kershner. 

Wuhu,  China. 

In  the  years  to  come,  when  the  younger  generation  shall 
ask  us,  “What  was  the  greatest  contribution  made  by  Presi¬ 
dent  A.  McLean  to  the  great  cause  of  missions?"  we  shall 
answer,  “Not  his  literary  contributions,  fine  as  they  are; 
not  the  enthusiasm  he  engendered  into  the  hearts  of  the  in¬ 
different,  making  them  become  enthusiastic  supporters  of 
missions,  but  the  great  fight  he  made  on  behalf  of  liberty  of 
conscience  in  mission  administration." 

Alexander  Paul. 

Shanghai,  China. 

My  thoughts  go  back  to  your  visit  to  Australia  many  years 
ago,  and  its  helpfulness  in  bringing  about  such  great  results 
to  the  churches  of  that  dear  homeland.  The  work  in  which 
they  have  engaged  in  foreign  lands  has  been  largely  influ¬ 
enced  by  your  enthusiasm  and  advice,  and  as  one  who  has 
gone  forth  as  one  result,  I  want  to  thank  you  personally,  for 
my  work  in  this  field  has  been  a  continued  source  of  joy. 

Rose  L.  Tonkin. 

Shanghai,  China. 

I  want  to  testify  that  whatever  influence  God  has  used  me 
to  exert  upon  this  people  is  due  to  the  visits  of  your  good 
self  to  old  Eureka  years  ago. 

Your  name  and  personality  are  known  and  loved  not  only 


MESSAGES  OF  MISSIONARIES 


243 


by  thousands  in  the  homeland  but  all  around  the  world. 
“The  Lord  bless  thee  and  keep  thee.  The  Lord  lift  up  his 
countenance  upon  thee  and  give  thee  peace.  ” 

H.  P.  Shaw. 

10th  Moon,  6th  day,  1914. 

(Translation.) 

McLean,  Great  President  and  Esteemed  Worthy: 

It  is  almost  twenty  years  since  we  saw  each  other’s  face 
in  Yu-ho-tsz  and  I  was  the  recipient  of  your  courtesy  and 
love.  From  that  day  to  this  I  have  not  been  in  your  honor¬ 
able  presence.  Constantly  as  I  have  met  others  who  know 
you,  have  I  asked  after  you  and  remembered  you.  They 
have  told  me  you  have  been  constant  in  the  Lord’s  work, 
laboring  unto  weariness. 

Younger  brother  rejoices  greatly  in  your  labors  and  love. 
May  the  Three  in  One,  True  God  be  with  you. 

Your  younger  brother  in  the  gospel. 

Shi  Kwei-biao. 

(First  convert  of  the  China  Mission  and  its  foremost  evan¬ 
gelist.) 


Akita,  Japan. 

Memories  crowd  as  I  think  back  over  the  years  I  have 
known  you,  to  the  time  when  we  met  by  the  sea  at  Hana- 
buchi.  I  can  remember  no  time  when  you  have  not  been 
linked  with  our  home  in  the  most  sacred  way.  Just  lately  I 
have  been  reading,  in  connection  with  my  Bible  study,  Hours 
With  the  Bible.  In  the  front  is  written  in  father’s  hand, 
“From  A.  McLean,  Tsurugaoka,  Japan,  May,  1889.”  You 
may  be  sure  that  makes  the  book  mean  much  more.  Although 
we  are  now  linked  in  a  different  relationship,  I  always  think 
of  you  as  “Daddy  McLean”  and  hope  you  will  always  think 
of  me  as  the  little  girl  to  whom  you  gave  “Dutch  kisses.” 

Gretchen  Garst. 

Akita,  Japan. 

The  longer  one  is  on  the  field  the  more  does  he  realize 
what  you  are  doing  and  have  striven  to  do  to  disseminate  the 
gospel  of  Christ  throughout  the  earth.  Yours  is  and  has 
been  the  followship  of  the  nation-builders.  For  opening  the 
way  before  them  you  take  high  place  among  the  makers  of 


244 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


civilization.  We  congratulate  you  upon  this  service  and  pray 
that  many  more  may  be  the  years  in  which  you  may  send 
out  the  evangel  of  the  Christ,  Pray  for  us  that  we  may  be 
true  to  the  task  before  us.  L.  D.  Oliphant. 

Joshi  Sei  Gakuin,  Takinogawa,  Tokyo,  Japan. 

Christmas  Eve,  1914. 

You  have  not  forgotten  the  “G.  0.  P.”  of  the  Angola. 
Indiana,  church,  have  you? 

For  eighteen  years  (almost)  I  have  had  fellowship  with 
you  in  this  work  which  grows  dearer  to  me  with  the  passing 
years.  “Once  I  was  young,  but  now  I — ”  am  not  so  young, 
but  life  is  sweet  and  so  well  worth  living. 

The  Father  hears  the  petitions  of  such  as  you  and  I  have 
faith  to  believe  that  some  day  ‘  ‘  The  earth  shall  be  full  of  the 
knowledge  of  the  Lord  as  the  waters  that  cover  the  sea,” 
Continue  to  pray  with  us  for  this  day! 

Bertha  Clawson. 

The  projectors  of  the  Edinburgh  conference  in  1910 
excluded  all  consideration  of  Latin  America  as  a  field 
for  Protestant  missions  in  deference  to  leaders  of  the 
Anglican  church  who  insisted  that  since  Roman  Cath¬ 
olicism  was  the  state  religion  of  most  of  the  Latin 
American  republics  and  the  prevailing  faith  of  all  of 
them,  it  would  be  a  violation  of  comity  to  undertake 
missionary  work  there. 

As  most  of  the  Protestant  churches  took  an  alto¬ 
gether  different  view  of  the  situation,  they  felt  that  a 
special  conference  should  be  held  in  behalf  of  Latin 
America.  Out  of  this  conviction  finally  grew  the  Con¬ 
gress  on  Christian  Work  in  Latin  America,  held  at 
Panama,  February  10-20,  1916.  In  this  conference 
sat  not  only  representatives  of  all  the  Protestant  mis¬ 
sionary  societies  working  in  the  Latin  American  re¬ 
publics,  but  officers,  missionaries  and  other  interested 
representatives  of  the  several  churches,  and  also 
prominent  citizens  of  the  countries  concerned  who 
were  not  directlv  identified  with  the  missionarv  enter- 

V  %/ 


PANAMA  CONGRESS 


245 


prise.  Having  missionaries  in  Mexico,  Argentina  and 
Porto  Rico  under  the  Christian  Woman’s  Board  of 
Missions,  the  Disciples  of  Christ  were  deeply  inter¬ 
ested  in  the  congress.  The  fact  that  Samuel  Guy 
Inman,  missionary  of  the  Christian  Woman’s  Board 
of  Missions  in  Mexico,  was  serving  as  executive  sec¬ 
retary  of  the  congress  naturally  deepened  this  inter¬ 
est.  The  delegation  of  fifteen  persons,  one  of  the 
strongest  in  the  congress,  represented  not  merely  the 
Christian  Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  but  the  Dis¬ 
ciples  of  Christ  as  a  whole.  Mr.  McLean  was  in  this 
group  and  the  others  gave  him  a  prominent  place  in 
its  work.  As  was  his  habit  in  such  gatherings  he  took 
little  part  in  the  proceedings.  The  devotional  periods 
occupied  a  large  place  in  each  day  of  the  congress. 
The  hour  that  he  led  and  his  address  on  prayer  had  a 
profound  influence  in  the  congress.  His  report  of  the 
congress  in  The  C h ri stian-E v a ng e li s t  was  a  striking 
example  of  his  skill  at  presenting  a  great  mass  of  in¬ 
formation  in  small  compass,  getting  at  the  very  heart 
and  soul  of  any  gathering  which  he  attended.  In  the 
course  of  this  report  he  said : 

One  note  that  was  sounded  more  often  than  any  other  was 
that  of  cooperation.  It  was  said  by  a  hundred  speakers  that 
no  single  communion  can  evangelize  Latin  America.  There 
must  be  cooperation  in  education,  in  literature,  in  all  forms 
of  benevolent  work,  in  evangelism;  there  must  be  coopera¬ 
tion  on  the  largest  scale  if  the  work  is  to  be  done.  A 
divided  Protestantism  is  unequal  to  the  task.  It  was  said 
that  if  the  nations  of  Europe  can  unite  to  kill  and  to  destroy, 
if  scientific  men  can  unite  to  exterminate  the  rat,  the  house¬ 
fly  and  the  mosquito,  Christian  people  should  be  able  to  unite 
for  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  Nearly  every  speaker 
voiced  this  thought.  Alexander  Campbell  never  pleaded  more 
earnestly  for  a  united  church  in  order  to  a  redeemed  race 
than  did  the  Congress  on  Christian  Work  in  Latin  America 
plead  for  the  union  of  all  the  forces  at  work  in  that  part  of 
the  great,  world  field.  One  speaker  said,  “We  have  come 


246 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


into  an  atmosphere  in  which  men  loathe  to  differ  and  are 
determined  to  understand  one  another.” 

In  1911  the  missionaries  in  China  became  possessed 
of  the  conviction  that  the  work  there  must  be  greatly 
enlarged  to  meet  the  multiplied  opportunities  and  re¬ 
sponsibilities  opening  before  them  on  every  hand. 
When  they  presented  the  matter  to  Mr.  Rains  who  was 
visiting  the  field  just  then,  he  recognized  the  force  of 
all  they  said  but  reminded  them  that  the  same  sort  of 
a  harvest  time  had  come  in  Tibet,  Japan,  the  Philip¬ 
pine  Islands,  Africa  and  India.  Unabashed,  the  mis¬ 
sionaries  said,  “Then  make  the  call  for  $600,000  and 
enlarge  the  work  in  all  the  fields  !”  With  this  in  view 
the  mission  sent  home  A.  E.  Cory,  who  had  gone  out 
to  China  in  1901,  to  present  the  matter  to  the  churches. 
After  he  reached  Cincinnati  the  executive  committee 
decided  to  place  the  amount  to  be  raised  in  the  cam¬ 
paign  at  half  a  million  dollars.  But  the  first  business 
men  interviewed,  George  B.  Vandervort  and  Benjamin 
L.  Rand  of  North  Tonawanda,  New  York,  and  G.  M. 
Kirby  of  Buffalo,  protested  that  the  amount  was  too 
small  either  to  accomplish  what  was  desired  or  to  chal¬ 
lenge  the  liberality  of  the  churches.  A  questionnaire 
sent  out  to  representative  laymen  throughout  the  coun¬ 
try  brought  the  same  verdict.  Then  there  was  another 
conference  in  Cincinnati  and  the  executive  committee 
decided  to  place  the  goal  at  $1,000,000  to  be  secured  in 
pledges  of  not  less  than  $500  each,  payable  in  five 
years. 

Scarcely  a  year  had  passed  before  the  goal  was  in 
sight,  and  W.  F.  Holt  of  Southern  California,  pro¬ 
posed  that  the  effort  be  repeated.  While  this  was  be¬ 
ing  talked  over  in  a  tentative  way,  Mrs.  M.  E.  Harlan, 
secretary  of  the  Christian  Woman’s  Board  of  Mis¬ 
sions,  proposed  that  the  new  campaign  be  for  home 
missions  as  well  as  foreign,  and  that  the  three  boards, 


A.  MCLEAN’S  FELLOW  OFFICERS  IN  THE  FOREIGN  SOCIETY 

1.  Bert  Wilson,  2.  S.  J.  Corey,  3.  C.  W.  Plopper,  4.  F.  M.  Rains,  5.  C.  M. 

Yocum,  6.  A,  E.  Cory,  7.  R.  A.  Doan. 


MEN  AND  MILLIONS  MOVEMENT  247 


the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society,  Christian 
Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  and  American  Christian 
Missionary  Society  join  in  an  effort  to  raise  two  mil¬ 
lion  dollars.  With  this  practically  agreed  npon,  the 
convention  of  1912  met  in  Louisville,  Kentucky.  There, 
in  a  prayer  meeting  devoted  to  the  new  campaign, 
someone  prayed,  4  4  Lord,  save  us  from  thinking  too 
much  of  money.  Help  us  to  realize  that  it  is  only 
through  consecrated  lives  that  thy  kingdom  can  he 
advanced.  Lord,  give  us  a  thousand  new  workers  for 
the  fields  at  home  and  abroad.”  This  immediately 
became  the  burden  of  all  hearts. 

Then  there  was  another  enlargement  of  the  plans  to 
include  the  Board  of  Ministerial  Relief,  the  Board  of 
Church  Extension  and  the  National  Benevolent  Asso¬ 
ciation,  making  the  financial  goal  $2,400,000.  At  the 
convention  of  1913,  in  Toronto,  Canada,  R.  A.  Long 
of  Kansas  City  urged  that  the  necessities  of  the  church 
colleges  be  made  a  part  of  the  campaign.  This  pro¬ 
posal  eventuated  within  a  few  weeks  in  his  pledging 
$1,000,000  on  condition  that  a  total  of  $6,300,000  be  se¬ 
cured,  $3,500,000  of  which  should  go  to  the  colleges. 
Before  the  promoters  began  the  campaign  they  re¬ 
alized  that  to  increase  the  funds  through  the  five-year 
period  and  then  allow  the  support  of  the  work  to  fall 
back  to  the  old  standard  would  be  disastrous,  and  so 
they  decided  to  introduce  the  every-member  canvass 
for  weekly  giving  for  missions,  benevolence  and  edu¬ 
cation,  as  well  as  for  local  church  support.  This  de¬ 
fined  the  threefold  aim  of  what  they  had  decided  to 
call  the  Men  and  Millions  Movement:  one  thousand 
workers  for  home  and  foreign  fields;  $6,300,000  for 
missions,  benevolence  and  education;  the  every-mem¬ 
ber  canvass  for  the  enlistment  of  the  whole  church  in 
support  of  the  whole  task. 

The  representatives  of  the  cooperating  agencies 


248 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


incorporated  the  movement  under  the  laws  of 
Ohio,  with  headquarters  in  Cincinnati,  and  elected  Mr. 
McLean  chairman  of  its  executive  committee  and  A.  E. 
Cory  and  R.  H.  Miller  secretaries  to  conduct  the  cam¬ 
paign.  With  them  were  associated  all  the  secretaries 
of  the  participating  boards  and  the  presidents  of  all 
cooperating  colleges.  Out  of  the  experience  of  the 
Million  Dollar  Campaign  standardized  and  efficient 
methods  of  presenting  the  work  had  been  evolved. 
Three  teams  of  five  persons  each  inaugurated  the  cam¬ 
paign  in  the  spring  of  1914  in  Texas.  In  each  section 
all  the  members  of  the  three  teams  participated  in  a 
“ set-up’ ’  meeting  to  which  they  invited  representa¬ 
tives  of  all  the  churches.  Then  the  separate  teams 
went  to  the  stronger  churches  and  presented  the  ob¬ 
jectives  of  the  campaign  in  a  public  meeting  at  which 
no  money  was  solicited.  Following  this  public  pres¬ 
entation  they  sought  individual  subscriptions  of  $500 
or  more  each,  payable  in  five  years,  as  in  the  Million 
Dollar  Campaign. 

The  leaders  continued  after  this  method  until  the 
spring  of  1918  when,  with  about  five  million  dollars 
subscribed,  such  a  crisis  arose  in  every  department 
of  the  work  on  account  of  the  World  War  that  they  un¬ 
dertook  an  emergency  drive  in  all  the  churches  of 
the  brotherhood,  both  for  the  larger  five-year  pledges 
and  for  smaller  amounts  down  to  five  dollars  each, 
payable  in  ninety  days.  In  this  drive  the  members  of 
four  thousand  churches  subscribed  over  two  million 
dollars  and  passed  the  total  goal  of  the  movement. 

Mr.  McLean  not  only  continued  as  chairman  of  the 
executive  committee  of  the  movement  throughout  its 
course,  but  exerted  all  the  while  a  profound  influence 
in  advancing  the  spiritual  and  educational  standards 
and  methods  of  the  campaign.  Not  a  single  executive 
committee  meeting  took  place  without  his  presence. 


CONDUCT  OP  THE  CAMPAIGN 


249 


No  matter  how  crowded  was  the  agenda  of  any  meet¬ 
ing,  by  the  unanimous  and  insistent  demand  of  the 
committee,  the  chairman  led  the  thirty-minute  period 
of  devotion.  The  continued  illness  of  Mr.  Rains  and  his 
absence  from  the  office  much  of  the  time,  made  it  neces¬ 
sary  for  Mr.  McLean  to  remain  in  Cincinnati  almost 
constantly,  but  he  attended  a  few  of  the  nearby  set¬ 
up  meetings  and  delivered  inspiring  addresses.  Af¬ 
ter  the  meeting  in  Memphis,  Tennessee,  one  man  said 
that  he  had  come  to  the  meeting  expecting  to  pledge 
five  hundred  dollars,  but  after  hearing  A.  McLean’s 
plea  for  home  missions  as  well  as  foreign,  he  was  go¬ 
ing  to  give  a  thousand. 

Before  the  completion  of  the  Men  and  Millions 
Movement  other  Protestant  communions  of  America 
began  to  plan  similar  undertakings,  some  of  which 
went  far  beyond  the  amounts  secured  by  the  Disciples. 
When  some  one  congratulated  the  leaders  of  the  Cen¬ 
tenary  Movement  on  the  splendid  success  of  the  Meth¬ 
odist  campaign  they  answered,  “But  we  would  not 
have  dared  undertake  what  we  did  if  the  Men  and  Mil¬ 
lions  Movement  had  not  gone  before.”  It  should  be 
said  also  that  the  war  had  completely  revolutionized 
and  vastly  advanced  the  standards  of  giving  for  un¬ 
selfish  purposes  in  America,  before  these  later  move¬ 
ments  were  inaugurated. 

In  each  of  the  places  visited  by  the  teams  of  the 
Men  and  Millions  Movement  a  special  meeting  was 
held  with  young  people  from  fifteen  to  twenty-five 
years  of  age.  Eight  thousand,  four  hundred  and 
twelve  of  these  signed  cards  declaring  their  intention: 
first,  to  study  the  world  fields ;  second,  to  study  their 
own  capabilities;  third,  to  secure  the  best  possible 
training,  preferably  in  a  Christian  college,  for  what¬ 
ever  life-work  it  seemed  they  should  undertake.  In 
each  church  there  was  a  conference  also  with  the  of- 


250 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


ficial  board  to  encourage  the  undertaking  of  the  every- 
member  canvass.  Completion  of  the  financial  cam¬ 
paign  in  the  emergency  drive  made  it  impossible  to 
round  out  the  efforts  for  the  realization  of  the  other 
two  aims  or  to  follow  up  adequately  the  results  that 
had  been  attained.  But  there  was  an  immediate  in¬ 
crease  in  college  attendance  and  a  decided  advance  in 
general  giving  that  could  not  have  been  realized  with¬ 
out  the  Men  and  Millions  Movement. 

With  all  that  was  accomplished,  Mr.  McLean  in¬ 
sisted  that  only  a  beginning  had  been  made  and  that 
before  many  years  had  passed  the  churches  would  be 
giving  each  year  more  than  they  subscribed  in  the  en¬ 
tire  campaign.  The  validity  of  his  expectation  is  re¬ 
alized  when  it  is  noted  that  2,342  persons  made  the 
five-year  pledges,  while  there  are  a  million  and  a  quar¬ 
ter  to  participate  in  the  support  of  the  work  year  after 
year. 

The  Men  and  Millions  Movement  was  essentially  not 
a  money-raising  campaign  but  an  educational  under¬ 
taking.  This  was  so  not  only  in  the  time  and  attention 
given  to  the  meetings  with  the  young  people  and  of¬ 
ficial  boards  of  the  churches,  but  also  in  the  public  pres¬ 
entation  of  the  work  and  the  private  solicitation  of 
pledges.  The  team  visited  scores  of  churches  where  it 
was  well  understood  that  the-chance  of  securing  pledges 
of  $500  or  more  was  very  slight.  They  canvassed  hun¬ 
dreds  of  individuals  with  equally  small  expectations. 
The  purpose  was  to  inform  the  people  as  to  the  needs 
of  the  fields  and  the  opportunities  of  the  gospel,  with 
the  purpose  of  securing  sympathy  and  prayer  as  Avell 
as  money.  The  appeal  for  money  was  kept  on  the 
highest  possible  plane.  The  motto  displayed  most  con¬ 
spicuously  in  every  meeting  was,  “We  seek  not  yours 
but  you.  ’  ’  In  all  this  the  Men  and  Millions  Movement 
was  of  a  piece  with  Mr.  McLean’s  life-long  methods 


A  SPIRITUAL  ENTERPRISE 


251 


and  efforts,  and  its  results,  like  the  fruitage  of  his  indi¬ 
vidual  work,  are  to  be  found  not  so  much  in  immediate 
returns  as  in  the  progress  of  the  long  years. 

Regarding  the  essential  character  of  the  movement 
he  said  as  an  introduction  to  its  report  in  1919 : 

The  Men  and  Millions  Movement  is  a  spiritual  enterprise. 
Its  aim  is  the  glorification  of  Christ  through  the  promotion 
of  the  interests  of  his  kingdom.  The  money  raised  and 
pledged  is  for  three  great  causes:  missions,  education  and 
benevolence — three  causes  that  lie  close  to  the  heart  of  our 
living  Lord.  His  parting  charge  to  his  disciples  was  this, 
“  Go  ye  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  whole 
creation.’ ’  His  last  words  spoken  in  this  hearing  were  these, 
“You  shall  receive  power  when  the  Holy  Spirit  is  come 
upon  you,  and  you  shall  be  my  witnesses  both  in  Jerusalem, 
and  in  all  Judea  and  Samaria,  and  unto  the  uttermost  part 
of  the  earth.”  The  enlistment  of  life  is  a  necessary  part 
of  His  program.  The  fields  call  for  evangelists,  physicians, 
teachers  and  nurses.  The  gospel  cannot  fill  the  earth  as  the 
waters  fill  the  sea  unless  qualified  men  and  women  in  suffi¬ 
cient  numbers  are  provided.  In  order  that  the  men  and 
women  needed  may  be  qualified  for  the  service,  schools  must 
be  maintained.  The  aged  and  dependent  must  be  fed  and 
clothed  and  housed  and  cared  for  as  their  needs  require. 
What  is  done  to  the  least  of  these  is  considered  as  done  to 
Him. 

Because  the  Men  and  Millions  Movement  is  a  spiritual 
movement,  it  was  begun  and  continued  in  the  spirit  of  prayer. 
There  has  been  no  meeting  of  the  executive  committee  and 
no  set-up  meeting  and  no  meeting  of  the  soliciting  teams  in 
which  prayer  has  not  had  a  large  place.  The  continued  guid¬ 
ance  and  blessing  of  God  were  invoked.  It  is  confidently  be¬ 
lieved  that  the  success  of  the  movement  is  God’s  direct  an¬ 
swer  to  the  believing  prayer  of  his  people. 

The  leaders  realized  that  the  task  proposed  was  too  great 
for  them  unless  they  were  aided  with  power  from  on  high. 
They  reminded  themselves  of  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus, 
“Apart  from  me  ye  can  do  nothing.”  They  recalled,  too, 
his  gracious  promises,  “Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you;  seek, 
and  ye  shall  find;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you”; 
and,  *  ‘  If  two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as  touching  anything 


252 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


that  they  shall  ask,  it  shall  be  done  for  them  of  my  Father 
who  is  in  heaven.”  On  telling  the  Twelve  that  the  harvest 
truly  was  plenteous  while  the  laborers  were  few,  the  Master 
said,  ‘  ‘  Pray  ye  therefore  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  that  he  send 
forth  laborers  into  his  harvest/’  Prayer  is  the  divine 
method  suggested  for  securing  the  laborers  needed. 

In  all  our  efforts  to  advance  the  frontiers  of  the  kingdom, 
we  are  authorized  to  commandeer  all  the  resources  of  the 
universe.  Our  Lord  has  said,  “Concerning  my  sons,  and 
concerning  the  work  of  my  hands,  command  ye  me.  ’  ’ 


CHAPTER  XIX 


CROWNING  THE  YEARS 


THIRTY-FIFTH  ANNIVERSARY  CELEBRATION - LOVING  SELF  FOR  THE  SAKE 

OF  GOD - MCLEAN  FUND — QUOTATIONS  FROM  SPEECHES  AND  LETTERS - HIS 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 


HEN  the  thirty-fifth  anniversary  of  Mr. 


*  *  McLean’s  service  with  the  Foreign  Society  ap¬ 
proached,  his  comrades  in  the  work  decided  that  the 
length,  originality  and  self-sacrificing  character  of  Ills 
labors,  as  well  as  their  results,  required  that  the  occa¬ 
sion  should  receive  more  than  passing  recognition.  They 
arranged  therefore  for  a  celebration  in  the  Central 
Church  at  Cincinnati,  on  March  4,  1917.  His  friends 
and  admirers  from  far  and  near  gathered  in  the  his¬ 
toric  and  cathedral-like  old  church  in  an  assemblage 
impressive  both  in  numbers  and  in  representative 
character.  Those  best  qualified  to  present  the  various 
phases  of  his  life  and  service  were  the  spokesmen  of 
the  event.  The  chief  voice  was  that  of  F.  M.  Rains 
who  had  served  longest  with  him.  Telegrams  and  let¬ 
ters  came  in  large  numbers  from  those  who  could  not 
attend.  Even  those  who  knew  him  best  were  sur¬ 
prised  at  the  variety,  the  extent  and  the  success  of  his 
labors ;  but  beyond  all  admiration  of  his  work  and  of 
his  character  was  love  of  the  man  expressed  or  clearly 
implied  in  every  address,  letter  and  telegram  and  by 
the  presence  of  every  person  in  the  church. 

Especially  striking  was  the  frank  but  detached  de¬ 
light  which  Mr.  McLean  took  in  the  proceedings. 


253 


254 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


There  was  a  time  in  his  career  when  he  would  not  have 
permitted  such  a  demonstration.  That  he  not  only 
tolerated  but  enjoyed  it  was  due  partly  to  his  feeling 
that  it  was  a  tribute  to  his  Lord  rather  than  to  him¬ 
self,  and  a  recognition  of  the  work  to  which  he  had 
given  his  life  rather  than  of  his  own  personal  place 
in  it.  But  this  was  not  all.  A  further  explanation  is 
to  be  found  in  a  memorable  statement  of  Bernard  of 
Clairvaux. 

First,  then,  a  man  loves  his  own  self  for  self’s  sake,  since 
he  is  flesh,  and  he  cannot  have  any  taste  except  for  things  in 
relation  with  him;  but  when  he  sees  that  he  is  not  able  to 
subsist  by  himself,  that  God  is,  as  it  were,  necessary  to  him, 
he  begins  to  inquire  and  to  love  God  by  faith.  Thus  he  loves 
God  in  the  second  place,  but  because  of  his  own  interest,  and 
not  for  the  sake  of  God  himself.  But  when,  on  account  of 
his  own  necessity,  he  has  begun  to  worship  him  and  to  ap¬ 
proach  him  by  meditation,  by  reading,  by  prayer,  by  obedi¬ 
ence,  he  comes  little  by  little  to  know  God  with  a  certain 
familiarity,  and  in  consequence  to  find  him  sweet  and  kind; 
and  thus  having  tasted  how  sweet  the  Lord  is,  he  passes  to 
the  third  stage,  and  thus  loves  God  no  longer  on  account  of 
his  own  interest,  but  for  the  sake  of  God  himself.  Once  ar¬ 
rived  there,  he  remains  stationary,  and  I  know  not  if  in  this 
life  man  is  truly  able  to  rise  to  the  fourth  degree,  which  is, 
no  longer  to  love  himself  except  for  the  sake  of  God.  Those 
who  have  made  trial  of  this  (if  there  be  any)  may  assert  it 
to  be  attainable;  to  me,  I  confess  it  appears  impossible. 

That  which  the  celebrated  abbot  considered  impos¬ 
sible  was  achieved  by  Archibald  McLean.  This  de¬ 
tached  attitude  toward  himself  was  manifested  also  in 
his  modification  of  the  asceticism  of  his  earlier  min¬ 
istry.  Then  he  delighted  in  mortifying  the  flesh,  in 
denying  himself  sleep,  missing  his  meals,  spending 
nights  of  travel  on  a  day-coach,  and  in  every  way 
showing  contempt  for  the  mortal  body  in  which  he 
dwelt.  Finally  he  recognized  the  inconsistency  be¬ 
tween  his  urging  the  ministers  and  missionaries  and 


THE  FOURTH  DEGREE  OF  LOVE  255 


Mr.  Rains  to  take  care  of  their  health  and  the  course 
he  himself  was  pursuing.  Seeing  his  duty  in  this,  as 
in  everything  else,  meant  acting  upon  it  consistently 
and  faithfully.  He  changed  his  habits  of  daily  life  as 
promptly  and  thoroughly  as  he  had  altered  his  pen¬ 
manship  when  he  realized  how  illegible  his  writing 
was. 

As  a  part  of  the  anniversary  celebration  and  before 
the  day  arrived,  Mr.  Rains  wrote  to  a  number  of 
friends  suggesting  the  creation  of  a  McLean  Fund  of 
$10,000,  the  interest  on  which,  at  the  salary  rate  then 
prevailing,  would  support  a  missionary  forever.  The 
people  took  pleasure  in  contributing  to  the  fund  and 
innumerable  tributes  of  gratitude  and  affection  accom¬ 
panied  the  remittances. 

On  the  day  of  the  celebration  his  associates  pre¬ 
sented  him  with  a  handsomely  bound  book  containing 
the  addresses  of  that  occasion  and  many  of  the  letters. 
Later  they  added  other  letters  and  telegrams,  and  the 
book  became  one  of  his  most  prized  possessions.  He 
kept  it  in  his  desk  until  a  short  time  before  his  death 
when  he  sent  it  on  to  one  of  his  sisters  with  the  request 
that  after  examining  it  herself  she  pass  it  around  to 
other  members  of  the  family.  A  few  typical  and  in¬ 
forming  expressions  from  this  collection  follow  here. 
They  represent  hundreds  of  others  from  national, 
state  and  provincial  secretaries,  ministers  and  mis¬ 
sionaries  and  men  and  women  of  the  churches  all  over 
North  America.  Every  one  had  some  special  reason 
for  loving  A.  McLean. 

John  H.  Booth,  Church  Extension  secretary. — As  a  student 
in  Drake  your  life  and  message  reached  the  secret  chambers 
of  my  heart.  They  sent  me  from  the  meeting  thoughtfully 
and  reverently  to  seek  the  quiet  of  my  room  to  think  matters 
over  with  my  God,  and  there  came  a  feeling  to  me  that  I 
would  be  willing  to  go  anywhere  God  called  me  and  give  my 
life  in  service  to  him. 


2436 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Milton  B.  Madden,  missionary,  Japan. — I  first  came  under 
your  influence  when  I  entered  Bethany  College,  where  you 
were  president,  twenty -four  years  ago.  *  *  *  Your  in¬ 

fluence  in  our  lives  and  the  lives  of  our  children  has  been 
very  precious.  Our  little  daughter,  Grace,  who  never  knew 
a  grandparent,  stuck  close  to  you  at  the  Oregon  state  con¬ 
vention  last  year  at  Turner.  She  said,  “I  love  Brother 
McLean  and  wish  he  was  my  grandpa.” 

W.  E.  Crabtree,  minister,  San  Diego,  California. — He  led 
me  out  of  the  wilderness  of  non-missions.  I  heard  him  first 
in  Morrison  Chapel,  Lexington,  Kentucky,  twenty-seven 
years  ago.  Of  course  I  was  first  struck  with  his  odd  manner¬ 
isms.  When  he  began  to  speak  I  forgot  his  jerky  gestures 
and  stood  with  him  beside  Livingstone’s  grave  in  Westminster 
Abbey.  A  new  world  was  discovered  unto  me  that  night.  He 
has  continued  an  inspiration  to  me.  His  unwillingness  to 
be  less  than  a  master  of  his  subject,  his  abandonment  to  his 
task,  his  piety  and  his  refusal  to  yield  to  obstacles — these  and 
personal  friendship  have  spurred  me  on.  We  count  the 
thirty-fifth  not  the  last  milestone,  not  the  one  in  the  forum- 
heart  of  Rome,  but  the  one  at  Apii  Forum,  where  still  on  the 
journey,  the  brethren  meet,  “thank  God  and  take  courage.” 

Charles  P.  Hedges,  missionary,  Bolenge,  Congo,  Africa. — 
Because  I  have  known  you  I  am  a  better  man  and  a  mission¬ 
ary.  You  have  been  an  inspiration  to  me.  My  father  died 
sixteen  years  ago,  and  many  times  when  you  have  laid  your 
hand  on  my  shoulder  and  said,  “How  are  you,  Charlie?”  I 
have  called  you  in  my  heart,  1  ‘  Father.  ’ ’ 

G.  W.  Muckley,  veteran  secretary  of  Church  Extension. 
— A.  McLean’s  first  friendly  act  to  me  was  when  I  was  a 
sophomore  in  Bethany  College.  He  was  giving  a  series  of 
addresses  at  Bethany  on  the  far  fields  of  the  world,  and  at 
the  close  of  these  I  borrowed  ten  dollars  from  President 
Pendleton  and  gave  it  to  Mr.  McLean  for  world  evangeliza¬ 
tion.  I  paid  back  that  ten  dollars  to  President  Pendleton, 
and  it  resulted  in  my  entering  the  ministry. 

Dr.  E.  I.  Osgood,  missionary,  China. — Twenty-four  years 
ago  you  stood  in  the  chapel  at  Hiram  and  I  for  the  first  time 
heard  your  message.  It  was  “Go — Go — GO!”  It  was  said 
to  the  body  of  students,  but  later  I  made  the  decision  to  go. 
The  next  time  I  came  in  personal  touch  with  you  was  at  the 
Student  Volunteer  Convention,  1898,  in  Cleveland,  and  you 


LETTERS  AND  ADDRESSES  257 

personally  asked  me  if  I  would  go — to  China.  That  call  of 
yours  defined  the  work  of  my  life.  A  little  later  you  met  me 
at  the  station  in  Cincinnati  and  took  my  suitcase.  It  seems 
as  if  you  have  been  carrying  it  for  me  ever  since.  Many  are 
the  loads  you  have  borne  for  me — especially  on  the  wings  of 
prayer  to  the  throne  of  God. 

I  traveled  with  you  a  month  this  winter.  It  was  a  joy  to 
work  with  you  and  be  guided  by  your  directions.  I  cannot 
be  with  you  very  long  without  realizing  what  a  father  and 
mother  you  seek  to  be,  and  are,  to  us  missionaries.  I  shall 
go  back  to  my  work  many  times  stronger  because  of  the  privi¬ 
lege  of  having  listened  day  after  day  to  the  morning  devo¬ 
tions  you  led  at  the  rallies.  You  bring  us  back  to  the  great 
fundamentals.  You  teach  us  anew  to  pray  and  to  study  the 
Word. 

David  Rioch,  missionary,  India. — As  Joshua  was  a  savior 
of  his  people,  so  has  been  A.  McLean,  in  that  he  has  saved 
the  Disciples  of  Christ  from  pettiness  by  revealing  to  them 
the  whole  program  of  the  Christ.  By  the  power  of  a  saintly 
life  he  has  led  the  Disciples  of  Christ  out,  out  into  India, 
China,  Japan,  Africa  and  the  islands  of  the  sea. 

By  none  has  the  power  of  his  personality  been  so  appre¬ 
ciated  as  by  the  missionaries.  Said  one  missionary,  and  this 
can  be  said  by  all,  “No  man’s  life  has  had  such  an  influence 
on  me  as  has  A.  McLean’s.”  None  of  us  will  ever  forget 
the  wonderful  seasons  of  prayer,  the  heart  talks,  the  deep 
spiritual  lessons,  the  world-wide  vision  he  has  given  us. 
These  have  gone  with  us  out  in  the  lonely  places  of  the  remot¬ 
est  parts  of  the  world.  Sometimes  when  disheartened  and 
discouraged,  the  thought  of  A.  McLean  and  what  he  has 
endured  for  our  sakes  and  his  daily  pleading  for  us  before 
the  throne  of  grace,  has  put  heart  into  us  and  has  stood  with 
us  in  all  our  discouragements,  illnesses  and  sorrows.  He  has 
entered  into  our  homes,  so  that  our  children  love  him  and 
think  there  is  no  other  man  living  who  equals  Brother 
McLean,  for  he  has  often  found  time  in  his  busy  life  to  write 
to  them. 

With  us  he  has  borne  all  things,  has  of  us  believed  only 
good  things,  has  hoped  in  us,  and  his  love  has  never  failed, 
for  he  is  our  friend,  yea  more  than  a  friend,  for  his  love  has 
been  greater  even  than  that  of  a  brother. 


258 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


F.  M.  Rains. — He  lias  been  the  first  at  the  office  in  the 
morning  and  the  last  to  close  his  door  at  night.  In  season, 
out  of  season,  he  has  toiled  day  and  night — stormy  days, 
Sundays  and  holidays.  His  labor  has  been  unremitting.  He 
has  always  been  ready  and  most  willing  to  do  the  humblest 
task.  Never  “fussy,”  always  efficient,  he  moves  with  steadi¬ 
ness  and  strength. 

When  the  work  of  the  day  is  over  in  the  office,  he  is  ready 
for  a  long  evening  of  toil  in  his  room,  writing  articles  or 
leaflets  or  books.  Or,  it  may  be  he  goes  over  a  voluminous 
correspondence  fresh  from  one  of  the  mission  fields.  He  has 
rendered  more  service  while  others  slept  than  many  have 
accomplished  when  awake.  Not  a  drop  of  lazy  blood  courses 
in  his  veins.  No  germs  of  indifference  or  idleness  find  culture 
in  his  busy  life.  Many  of  the  best  editorials  you  have  read 
in  the  religious  papers  were  written  by  his  versatile  pen.  One 
of  the  strongest  missionary  books  written  in  this  or  any  other 
age,  was  penned  by  his  tireless  hand.  Where  the  Book 
Speaks  is  a  missionary  classic  and  will  remain  so  for  a  hun¬ 
dred  years.  Thomas  and  Alexander  Campbell  is  the  best 
interpretation  of  their  lives  and  work  that  has  been  written. 
A.  McLean  has  become  a  great  author  by  snatching  scraps 
of  time  from  an  overcrowded  life  of  administrative  duties. 

James  L.  Barton,  secretary  American  Board  of  Commis¬ 
sioners  for  Foreign  Missions  (Congregational). — I  am  almost 
overwhelmed  with  a  sense  of  the  significance  of  these  thirty- 
five  years  of  active  service.  *  *  *  Under  your  eye  and 

in  no  small  measure  under  your  guiding  hand,  Christianity 
has  been  planted  in  the  hearts  of  multitudes  of  the  people  of 
Africa  and  the  East.  *  *  *  You  have  seen  your  own 

society  come  into  prominence.  #  #  *  It  has  always  been 

an  inspiration  to  meet  you  face  to  face,  and  to  share  with  you 
in  counsels  affecting  cooperative  work,  both  at  home  and 
abroad.  Your  spirit  of  devotion  and  consecration  and  breadth 
of  vision  has  been  a  help  and  inspiration  to  us  all. 

Robert  E.  Speer,  secretary  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions. — Ever  since  we  first  met  our  hearts  have  been  as 
brothers’  hearts.  And  as  I  look  back  over  the  years  I  re¬ 
joice  in  all  our  fellowship,  and  in  the  unbroken  intimacy  and 
confidence  of  our  service  together.  God  has  given  you  a 
great  opportunity,  and  with  it  the  grace  and  wisdom  and  un¬ 
selfishness  which  have  made  your  loyal  ministry  a  joy  and 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT  OF  TRIBUTES  259 


inspiration  to  thousands.  What  you  have  said  and  written 
and  done  as  an  educator  and  as  a  missionary  leader  has  been 
a  great  blessing  and  power,  but  what  you  have  been  has  given 
you  an  even  deeper  and  more  tender  place  in  our  hearts. 
Jesus  Christ  has  been  first  with  you,  and  therefore  you  have 
been  able  to  win  for  him  a  larger  place  in  other  lives.  Your 
own  heart  has  been  pure,  and  that  has  made  other  hearts 
happier  and  more  free  as  you  have  touched  them. 

John  R.  Mott,  secretary  International  Y.  M.  C.  A.,  chair¬ 
man  Student  Volunteer  Movement  and  Edinburgh  Mission¬ 
ary  Conference. — Your  large  vision,  your  constructive  plans, 
your  undiscouragable  enthusiasm,  your  contagious  faith,  your 
rare  spirit  of  humility,  and  your  unfailing  emphasis  on  the 
spiritual,  have  made  your  life  and  your  work  the  source  of 
inspiration  to  me  through  all  the  years  since  we  first  met  in 
a  far  away  part  of  the  world.  I  have  valued  your  friendship 
more  than  I  can  express. 

R.  P.  Mackay,  secretary  Presbyterian  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions,  Canada. — How  little  you  can  know  of  all  the  help 
and  comfort  and  inspiration  you  have  been  distributing 
throughout  the  world  in  all  these  years!  Even  if  you  tried 
to  reckon  it,  your  valuation  would  be  too  low,  because  the 
Master  credits  more  generously  than  we  would  dare  to  do; 
and  also  because  your  influence  has  traveled  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  your  own  section  of  the  church. 

Mr.  McLean  indicated  his  unaffected  enjoyment  of 
the  thirty-fifth  anniversary  celebration  and  his  appre¬ 
ciation  of  his  friends’  affection  in  letters  like  this  to 
Miss  Martha  Kilgour  and  in  the  ‘ 4 Card”  that  ap¬ 
peared  in  the  Missionary  Intelligencer  of  April,  1917. 

My  dear  Miss  Martha: 

The  flowers  added  much  to  the  joy  of  the  day.  They  were 
beautiful,  and  were  greatly  admired  by  all  who  saw  them. 
I  am  deeply  grateful  for  your  kind  remembrance  of  the  day 
and  for  your  contribution  to  its  enjoyment.  The  Lord  re¬ 
ward  you;  all  I  can  do  is  to  thank  you,  and  I  do  that  with 
all  my  heart  and  soul. 

The  service  at  the  church  was  perfect.  Dr.  Kilgour  and 
Miss  Annie  were  present.  I  was  never  in  such  a  service  and 
may  never  be  in  another  like  it,  or  approaching  it.  The 


260 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


friends  were  more  than  teiiid.  There  is  only  one  way  to 
show  my  appreciation  and  gratitude,  and  that  is  to  be  in 
some  measure  worthy  of  the  confidence  and  good  will  of  the 
people  I  serve.  God  bless  them  every  one.  May  he  deal 
well  with  you  and  repay  all  your  kindness  and  goodness. 

Most  truly  yours, 

A.  McLean. 


A  Card 

In  my  absence  and  without  my  knowledge,  my  associates 
and  other  friends  arranged  to  celebrate  the  completion  of 
thirty-five  years  of  service  for  the  society.  Never  before  in 
our  history  has  there  been  such  a  celebration  as  was  held  in 
the  Central  Christian  Church  in  Cincinnati,  on  the  4tli  day 
of  March.  I  trust  it  was  a  harbinger  of  a  better  day,  a  day 
in  which  public  servants  will  be  honored  in  their  own  country 
and  by  their  own  people  and  in  their  own  lifetime.  To  my 
associates  in  office,  to  the  friends  who  sent  their  congratula¬ 
tions  by  mail  and  by  wire,  to  the  men  and  women  who  came 
from  other  cities  and  other  states,  to  the  representatives  of 
all  our  organized  missionary  and  benevolent  and  educational 
and  temperance  work,  and  to  the  leaders  of  the  Men  and 
Millions  Movement,  who  made  it  a  point  to  be  present  and 
assist,  all  I  can  say  is  this:  “I  thank  you,  and  may  God 
reward  you,  for  I  can  make  no  suitable  return  for  the  evi¬ 
dence  of  your  confidence  and  affection/’  Wordsworth  said 
what  I  feel: 

“I’ve  heard  of  hearts  unkind,  kind  deeds 
With  coldness  still  returning; 

Alas!  the  gratitude  of  men 

Hath  oftener  left  me  mourning.” 

I  am  amazed  at  the  numerous  expressions  of  kindness  and 
good  will  that  have  come  from  men  and  women  and  churches 
in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

To  each  and  all  who  helped  to  make  the  celebration  a  de¬ 
lightful  episode  in  a  long  and  busy  life,  I  say  with  Tiny  Tim, 
“God  bless  you  every  one.”  A.  McLean. 


PART  IV 


AS  SEEING  HIM  WHO  IS  INVISIBLE 


CHAPTER  XX 


STEADFAST  THROUGH  STORM  AND  STRESS 

DIFFERENCES  AMONG  THE  DISCIPLES  OF  CHRIST — DIVISION — C0L03SAL 

DIMENSIONS  OF  MC  LEAN’S  TASK - SUCCESS  ENGENDERS  PERENNIAL  OPPOSITION 

— FIRM  FOR  PRINCIPLES — CONCILIATORY  ON  METHODS - CINCINNATI  CONVEN¬ 
TION  OF  1919 — ST.  LOUIS  1920 - DECLARATION  OF  FAITH. 

ON  some  subjects  the  Disciples  of  Christ  have  been 
unanimous  but  missions  was  never  one  of  these 
subjects.  The  very  organization  of  the  missionary  so¬ 
cieties  aroused  such  opposition  in  some  quarters  that 
churches  and  even  families  were  hopelessly  divided. 
Many  of  his  friends  denounced  Alexander  Campbell 
for  favoring  the  organization  of  the  American  Chris¬ 
tian  Missionary  Society  and  for  becoming  its  first 
president.  Even  prior  to  this  they  assailed  county, 
district  and  state  cooperative  efforts  as  unwarranted 
by  the  Scriptures.  They  insisted  that  the  local 
church  itself  was  the  only  permissible  religious  organi¬ 
zation.  To  be  consistent  many  of  these  severe  liter- 
alists  condemned  Sunday  schools  as  vigorously  as  they 
did  missionary  societies.  Everywhere  they  opposed 
the  employment  of  instrumental  music  in  worship,  be¬ 
cause  the  New  Testament  makes  no  mention  of  its 
use  in  the  early  church.  On  the  same  account  they 
refused  to  pay  their  ministers  definite  salaries.  Finally 
the  cleavage  became  so  complete  that  a  considerable 
number  of  churches  refused  to  be  listed  in  the  United 
States  Census  reports  with  the  main  body  of  the  Dis¬ 
ciples  of  Christ.  For  a  number  of  years  they  have 
stood  apart  as  “Churches  of  Christ.” 


263 


264 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Tlie  inevitable  division  induced  by  this  controversy 
did  not  result  in  a  clear-cut  separation  between 
congregations.  There  was  scarcely  a  congregation 
that  was  unanimous  one  way  or  the  other.  In 
some  cases  there  was  a  minority  of  missionary  spirits 
in  an  anti-missionary  congregation.  In  other  places 
there  were  a  few  anti-missionary  souls  in  churches 
that  were  at  least  tolerant  of  organized  missionary 
endeavor.  In  many  cases  the  division  was  so  pro¬ 
nounced  that  one  party  or  the  other  formed  a  new 
church. 

The  leaders  of  the  extreme  conservatives  always 
insisted  that  they  were  not  opposed  to  missions  but 
simply  to  missionary  societies.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
a  few  missionaries  have  gone  out  from  their  ranks  and 
have  been  supported  by  irregular  contributions.  Gen¬ 
erally  the  papers  that  have  voiced  the  convictions  of 
these  churches  have  served  as  clearing  houses  for  mis¬ 
sionary  offerings  to  enterprises  of  their  own  choosing. 
Virtually  the  papers  have  become  missionary  societies. 
All  the  while,  of  course,  there  was  no  more  warrant 
in  the  Scriptures  for  the  paper  itself  than  there  was 
for  the  missionary  society,  the  church  organ,  the  Sun¬ 
day  school  or  the  minister’s  salary. 

This  controversy  was  at  its  height  when  Mr.  McLean 
became  secretary  of  the  Foreign  Society.  Against  the 
society  were  arrayed  many  of  the  ablest  and  most  re¬ 
spected  leaders  of  that  day.  Only  a  few  men  of  repu¬ 
tation  advocated  missions  earnestly.  The  rest  were 
absorbed  in  their  immediate  tasks  and  gave  little 
thought  to  the  question.  Every  argument  for  missions 
involves  an  appeal  for  money,  and  the  few  who  enjoy 
giving  always  have  so  many  objects  for  their  gener¬ 
osity  that  they  shrink  from  new  demands  almost  as 
painfully  as  the  majority  who  count  all  giving  a  hard¬ 
ship.  The  missionary  call  also  runs  squarely  against 


DIVISION  OF  THE  DISCIPLES 


265 


race  prejudice  and  fixed  habits.  On  these  and  other 
accounts,  the  preacher  who  spoke  out  for  missions 
among  the  Disciples  of  Christ  fifty  years  ago  took  his 
ministerial  life  in  his  hands,  while  the  most  specious 
argument  against  missions  could  win  applause  from 
our  very  human  fathers.  To  overcome  such  powerful 
adversaries,  such  stubborn  opposition  and  such  solid 
inertia,  Providence  appointed  an  unknown  stripling  of 
a  preacher  who  little  suspected,  when  he  consented  to 
become  secretary  of  the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary 
Society  along  with  his  village  pastorate,  how  great 
were  the  labors  and  sufferings  before  him.  Step  by 
step  he  got  deeper  into  the  work  until,  ten  years  after 
his  first  election,  he  was  wholly  and  forever  committed 
to  the  missionary  enterprise. 

It  has  been  said  that  one ’s  enemies  are  always  more 
active  than  his  friends.  This  truth  was  illustrated 
throughout  Mr.  McLean’s  life — for  instance:  in  the 
controversy  which  raged  during  his  first  eighteen 
years  with  the  society,  one  party  was  positively  and 
even  violently  opposed  to  instrumental  music,  minis¬ 
terial  salaries,  missionary  societies  and  everything  else 
which  they  considered  an  innovation;  the  other  in¬ 
sisted  only  upon  the  liberty  to  utilize  these  means  for 
the  advancement  of  the  cause  of  Christ,  if  individually 
and  locally  they  saw  fit  to  do  so.  As  a  matter  of  fact 
the  taste  which  required  an  organ  advanced  much 
faster  than  the  conscience  which  compelled  the  sup¬ 
port  of  preachers  at  home  and  missionaries  abroad. 

Many  of  the  non-missionary  people  fought  the  or¬ 
ganization  bitterly,  impugning  the  motives  and  revil¬ 
ing  the  characters  of  its  officers.  In  1891,  one  of  them 
wrote  Mr.  McLean,  “We  believe  little  or  nothing  of 
what  you  or  any  other  missionary  boss  says.  We  look 
upon  the  whole  scheme  as  a  swindle  and  a  fraud.  We 
go  nothing  on  the  Christianity  and  but  little  on  the 


266 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


honesty  of  the  manipulators  of  this  whole  society  work. 
It  is  not  of  God  but  of  men.  The  heathen  are  not 
calling  on  you  nor  me  for  the  gospel.  They  can  have 
the  gospel  printed  in  their  own  tongue  if  they  desire 
it.  *  *  *  The  whole  thing  is  a  humbug  and  a  pretense 
to  fill  the  pockets  of  bad  men  and  worse  women.”  The 
same  year  another  wrote  him,  “The  missionary  soci¬ 
eties  and  Sunday  schools  of  today  are  the  devil’s  prop¬ 
erty,  and  every  man  converted  thereto  is  the  devil’s 
man.” 

The  natural  inclination  of  any  man  of  the  “Fight¬ 
ing  McLeans,”  or  even  of  more  pacific  blood,  would 
have  been  to  denounce  the  essential  infidelity  of  such 
attacks  upon  those  who  were  striving  to  do  God’s  will. 
He  restrained  his  wrath,  preached  the  Word  with 
mighty  emphasis  upon  its  missionary  imperative  and 
spirit,  told  the  facts  of  the  society’s  work  and  chal¬ 
lenged  his  hearers  to  follow  their  Lord  and  his  apos¬ 
tles.  The  few  missionaries  who  were  supported 
independently  of  the  societies  he  considered  God’s 
servants,  even  as  the  others;  remembered  them  in  his 
prayers,  visited  them  in  his  travels,  and  rejoiced  in 
their  successes. 

One  of  the  favorite  charges  against  the  societies  has 
always  been  that  “it  takes  ninety  cents  to  get  a  dime 
to  the  mission  fields.”  In  support  of  this  contention 
the  Gospel  Advocate  of  January  12,  1922,  published 
an  article  in  which  there  appeared  these  statements: 
“When  A.  McLean  was  president  of  the  society  I  un¬ 
derstood  some  years  ago  that  his  salary  was  $7,500  a 
year.  I  presume  it  was  not  less  than  $10,000  at  the 
time  of  his  death.  ’  ’  Possibly  the  writer  did  not  know 
that  the  society  publishes  every  year  a  detailed  and 
audited  statement  of  its  receipts  and  expenditures. 
But  the  editor  could  have  learned  without  difficulty 
that  A.  McLean  never  received  more  than  $2,400  a 


COLOSSAL  TASK 


267 


year.  As  this  paper  ’s  readers  are  largely  rural  and  not 
familiar  with  the  enormous  cost  of  living  in  the  large 
cities,  this  one  erroneous  rumor  (and  Mr.  McLean 
would  not  have  called  such  a  report  by  a  worse  name) 
would  furnish  a  sufficient  basis  for  anything  anyone 
might  care  to  say  about  selfishness,  luxury,  extrava¬ 
gance  and  misuse  of  funds.  Moreover,  the  falsehood 
and  all  deductions  from  it  would  be  repeated  and  mag¬ 
nified  by  hundreds  and  thousands  of  persons  year  after 
year. 

The  dawn  of  the  twentieth  century  among  the 
churches  that  were  not  hopelessly  bound  by  inflexible 
legalism  found  the  missionary  enterprise  completely 
vindicated.  No  man  of  any  influence  among  the  Dis¬ 
ciples  of  Christ  longer  questioned  the  liberty  of  indi¬ 
vidual  Christians  to  cooperate  in  any  good  work  which 
they  felt  called  upon  to  do.  Some  still  insisted  that 
while  individuals  might  thus  cooperate,  churches  could 
not,  but  few  people  paid  any  attention  to  this  distinc¬ 
tion.  Yet  the  churches  could  not  be  called  mission¬ 
ary.  Scarcely  a  third  of  them  were  contributing  any¬ 
thing  to  missions  and  less  than  a  third  of  the  members 
of  those  that  did  contribute  had  any  share  in  the  offer¬ 
ings.  It  rested  largely  with  the  minister  as  to  whether 
they  gave  anything  or  not.  If  he  presented  the  mat¬ 
ter,  some  of  those  who  happened  to  be  present  when 
he  made  the  appeal  would  contribute  what  they  felt 
they  could  spare,  and  then  feel  absolved  for  the  re¬ 
mainder  of  the  year.  If  the  Sunday  school  superin¬ 
tendent  or  others  arranged  for  the  observance  of  Chil¬ 
dren’s  Day  they  could  secure  an  offering.  But  if  the 
minister  and  Sunday  school  leaders  neglected  the  mat¬ 
ter,  most  churches  were  quite  willing  to  let  the  year 
pass  without  doing  anything.  Wherever  there  was  a 
woman’s  society  it  made  contributions  to  the  Christian 
Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  and  gradually  developed 


268 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


a  missionary  conscience,  in  the  entire  congregation  as 
well  as  among  its  own  members. 

When  the  agitation  and  promotion  of  missions  be¬ 
came  more  vigorous  and  systematic,  when  mission¬ 
aries  right  from  the  fields  began  to  visit  the  churches 
and  homes  of  the  people,  when  the  society  put  addi¬ 
tional  secretaries  into  the  field  and  held  missionary 
rallies,  it  became  increasingly  difficult  to  ignore  the 
call.  Then  new  varieties  of  opposition  developed.  But 
the  most  the  critics  could  do  was  to  supply  the  penu¬ 
rious  an  excuse  for  not  giving  and  to  suggest  to  the 
generous  new  objects  to  which  they  could  divert  their 
offerings;  no  more  pains  being  taken  to  discover  the 
worthiness  of  these  objects  than  were  taken  to  ascer¬ 
tain  the  truth  of  the  charges  against  the  society.  Much 
of  the  latter  half  of  Mr.  McLean’s  public  service  was 
hampered  by  successive  waves  of  such  opposition.  A 
sad  book  could  be  written  of  the  independent  mission¬ 
ary  ventures,  fostered  by  the  opposition,  which  ended 
in  disaster. 

A  severe  test  of  Archibald  McLean’s  fidelity  to  prin¬ 
ciple  came  in  1907.  The  society  was  rapidly  gaining 
favor  among  the  churches  and  the  missionaries  were 
winning  converts  on  the  fields.  In  recognition  of  the 
humanitarian  and  educational,  as  well  as  evangelistic 
work  that  the  missionaries  were  doing,  John  D.  Rocke¬ 
feller  had  given  the  society  $5,000  in  1905,  $10,000  in 
1906  and  $10,000  in  1907.  It  happened  just  then  that 
among  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  Thomas  W.  Phillips,  an 
honored  layman  of  Pennsylvania,  was  making  larger 
contributions  than  any  other  man  to  educational  and 
missionary  work,  and  at  the  same  time  was  leading  the 
fight  against  the  Standard  Oil  Company.  In  the  1907 
convention  at  Norfolk  he  urged  that  the  $25,000  should 
be  returned  to  its  donor.  He  argued  that  the  society, 
in  accepting  money  from  Mr.  Rockefeller,  gave  its 


PERENNIAL  OPPOSITION 


269 


sanction  to  all  the  economic  crimes  alleged  against  the 
Standard  Oil  Company.  It  was  no  easier  to  stand  out 
against  this  greatest  layman  in  the  brotherhood  than 
it  had  been  to  meet  some  of  the  most  influential  preach¬ 
ers  twenty  years  before.  Undoubtedly,  for  the  mo¬ 
ment,  it  would  have  increased  the  funds  as  well  as  the 
peace  of  the  society  to  yield,  but  Mr.  McLean  felt  that 
a  fundamental  principle  was  involved  and  stood  fast. 
The  convention,  after  the  manner  of  popular  bodies, 
kept  the  money  but  instructed  the  officers  of  the  soci¬ 
ety  not  to  ask  for  more  in  the  same  place.  In  recent 
years  the  colleges  of  the  brotherhood  have  been  receiv¬ 
ing  large  sums  from  the  General  Education  Board, 
founded  and  financed  by  Mr.  Rockefeller.  No  protests 
are  now  heard  against  such  actions. 

There  was  heated  controversy  over  the  appointment 
of  certain  speakers  on  the  Centennial  program  at 
Pittsburgh.  In  naming  the  speakers,  the  committee,  of 
which  both  Mr.  McLean  and  Mr.  Phillips  were  mem¬ 
bers,  conscientiously  sought  to  represent  the  entire 
brotherhood.  It  even  made  earnest  efforts  to  secure 
one  of  the  leaders  of  the  anti-society  brethren.  After  it 
had  published  the  list  of  speakers  protests  were  made 
against  the  appearance  of  one  or  two  of  the  men 
named,  on  the  ground  that  they  were  so  liberal  in  their 
position  as  to  be  outside  the  pale  of  the  brotherhood. 
The  committee,  by  a  majority  vote  refused  to  recall  its 
unanimous  appointments. 

When  the  Foreign  Society  joined  with  other  foreign 
mission  boards  in  the  establishment  of  Nanking  Uni¬ 
versity  in  China,  the  perennial  opposition  condemned 
the  society  for  “  compromising  with  the  denomina¬ 
tions.”  The  explicit  guarantees  of  the  university’s 
charter  and  of  the  contract  signed  by  the  several 
boards  did  not  satisfy  the  objectors.  Now  the  institu¬ 
tion  stands  out  both  as  an  inspiring  monument  of  mis- 


270 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


sionary  statesmanhip  and  as  a  practical  exemplifica¬ 
tion  of  the  Christian  union  plea  of  the  Disciples  of 
Christ.  By  helping  to  establish  and  maintain  it  in 
spite  of  continued  opposition  Mr.  McLean  paved  the 
way  for  many  other  such  enterprises  of  Christian  co¬ 
operation  and  at  the  same  time  helped  to  keep  alive 
the  finer  soul  of  his  people. 

Perhaps  the  bitterest  and  most  prolonged  attack 
upon  Mr.  McLean  and  the  society  grew  out  of  the 
appointment  of  a  certain  missionary.  The  candidate’s 
interviews  with  the  executive  committee  and  other  re¬ 
liable  information  fully  satisfied  that  body  as  to  his 
fitness  in  character,  attainments,  faith  and  consecra¬ 
tion  for  the  high  calling  which  he  had  espoused.  But 
when  his  appointment  was  announced,  some  who 
felt  that  he  was  not  in  sympathy  with  the  common 
practice  and  teaching  of  the  majority  of  the  churches 
that  were  supporting  the  Foreign  Society  made  vigor¬ 
ous  protests,  with  the  natural  result  that  many  people 
accepted  all  of  their  allegations  at  their  face  value  and 
joined  in  the  outcry.  Mr.  McLean  and  the  executive 
committee,  from  their  intimate  knowledge  of  the  can¬ 
didate,  stood  fast  in  their  confidence  in  him.  Just  as 
stoutly  they  maintained  that  the  regular  and  respon¬ 
sible  administration  of  the  society  must  not  give  place 
to  irregular  and  irresponsible  clamor.  A  life,  a  great 
organization  and  an  inviolable  principle  were  at  stake. 
They  refused  to  swerve  a  hair’s  breadth. 

Both  those  whose  confidence  in  the  society  was  un¬ 
shaken  and  the  opposition  expected  that  the  latter 
would  develop  much  strength  in  the  national  conven¬ 
tion  at  Portland,  Oregon,  in  July,  1911.  The  churches 
in  that  region,  many  of  whose  members  would  natur¬ 
ally  attend  the  convention,  were  known  to  be  conserva¬ 
tive  in  their  interpretation  of  the  Scriptures  and  stead¬ 
fast  in  their  adherence  to  their  conception  of  the 


FIRM  FOR  PRINCIPLES 


271 


historic  position  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ.  But  the  an¬ 
ticipated  storm  never  broke.  When  Mr.  McLean  ap¬ 
peared  the  convention  gave  him  a  tremendous  ovation. 
When  the  nominating  committee  made  its  report  the 
convention  reelected  him  unanimously  and  emphasized 
its  action  with  a  spontaneous  demonstration  of  con¬ 
fidence  and  affection.  The  report  which  Mr.  Rains, 
fresh  from  his  visit  to  China,  Japan,  India  and  the 
Philippine  Islands,  gave  of  the  missions  in  all  these 
lands  was  most  reassuring,  and  the  convention  enthu¬ 
siastically  ratified  the  society’s  fonvard-looking  pro¬ 
gram  of  enlargement. 

Year  after  year  each  convention  repeated  the  same 
process.  The  opposition  raised  a  great  hue  and  cry 
over  some  man  or  measure.  Some  people  grew 
alarmed  and  went  up  to  the  assembly  to  help  save  the 
cause  of  New  Testament  Christianity.  When  the  con¬ 
vention  assembled,  heard  the  reports,  saw  the  mis¬ 
sionaries,  met  the  officers  face  to  face  and  heard  a  full 
and  authentic  account  of  their  stewardship,  their  fears 
and  suspicions  vanished.  Three  things  stood  out 
clearly  before  them :  first,  the  vast  and  strategic  need 
of  the  gospel  everywhere;  second,  the  cheering  prog¬ 
ress  made  toward  meeting  the  need  in  spite  of  inade- 
quate  means ;  third,  the  loyalty,  unselfishness  and  effi¬ 
ciency  of  the  executive  committee  and  the  employed 
officers.  Then  practically  all  returned  to  their  homes 
resolved  to  give  more  adequate  support  of  life  and 
means  and  prayer  to  the  great  missionary  cause.  And 
yet,  however  unfounded  each  successive  charge  might 
be,  it  was  always  hurtful  to  the  society,  first,  because 
there  was  no  way  of  reaching  with  the  actual  facts  in 
the  case  more  than  a  fraction  of  the  people  who  had 
heard  the  charge,  and  second,  because  many  men  need 
to  have  only  a  slight  suspicion  aroused  to  stop  their 
giving. 


272 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 

Without  regard  for  consequences  he  resisted  the 
contention  that  the  Men  and  Millions  Movement 
should  set  up  a  heresy  court,  or  accept  the  findings  of 
a  self-constituted  one,  and  cancel  its  contract  with  one 
of  the  colleges.  No  more  could  he  be  frightened  out 
of  participation  in  the  establishment  of  the  United 
Christian  Missionary  Society. 

The  genuinely  Christian  spirit  of  Archibald 
McLean’s  steadfastness  saved  it  from  degenerating 
into  mere  stubbornness.  He  did  not  worship  his  own 
habits  or  opinions  or  the  precedents  of  his  society. 
Where  no  moral  or  religious  principle  wras  involved 
he  was  always  ready  to  go  the  second  mile.  Several 
illustrations  of  this  fact  appear  elsewhere  in  this  vol¬ 
ume.  Innumerable  others  could  be  added.  He  vigor¬ 
ously  opposed  the  effort  to  put  the  international  con¬ 
vention  on  a  delegate  basis,  but  when  the  issue  was 
decided  against  him  sincerely  sought  to  carry  out  the 
provisions  of  the  constitution.  In  an  important  com¬ 
mittee  meeting  one  day  A.  E.  Cory  said  that  he  hesi¬ 
tated  to  express  an  opinion  in  opposition  to  Mr. 
McLean’s  pronounced  judgment.  Instantly  Mr. 
McLean  interrupted  him  to  declare,  “Why  should 
you?  I’ve  been  opposed  all  my  life.”  Instead  of  re¬ 
senting  fair  opposition  he  welcomed  it,  believing  that, 
“In  the  multitude  of  counselors  there  is  safety.” 

In  the  organization  of  the  United  Christian  Mis¬ 
sionary  Society  Mr.  McLean  took  a  leading  part  in  so 
framing  the  constitution  that  it  should  be  perfectly 
responsive  to  the  will  of  the  people  supporting  it. 
The  constitution  provides  that  the  annual  convention 
shall  be  composed  of  all  present  who  have  given  either 
moral  or  financial  support  to  the  work.  The  board 
of  managers  consists  of  sixty  men  and  sixty  women,  so 
that  all  of  the  States  and  Canada  can  be  adequately 
represented.  This  board  of  managers  chooses  out  of 


CONCILIATORY  ON  METHODS 


its  own  number  an  executive  committee  of  ten  men 
and  ten  women.  To  remove  all  possibility  of  “  secre¬ 
tarial  domination”  the  constitution  provides  that  no 
paid  officer  of  the  society  shall  serve  either  on  the 
board  of  managers  or  on  the  executive  committee. 

For  months  prior  to  the  Cincinnati  convention  of 
1919  the  opposition  waged  an  aggressive  campaign 
throughout  the  country,  to  assemble  for  the  two  days 
previous  to  the  convention  the  largest  possible  number 
of  men  and  women  who  felt,  or  could  be  made  to  sus¬ 
pect,  that  the  faith  of  our  fathers  was  in  danger  or 
that  any  officer  or  agent  of  any  society  or  college  was 
incompetent  or  unworthy.  This  campaign  was  the 
culminating  effort  of  years  of  diligent,  widespread 
and  ingenious  propaganda,  thickly  sowing  and  thor¬ 
oughly  cultivating  the  seeds  of  suspicion. 

When  one  remembers  that  the  Disciples  then  had 
nine  national  boards  and  twenty-seven  colleges;  that 
even  the  wisest  and  most  devoted  men  and  women  are 
liable  to  err ;  that  people  are  easily  mistaken  in  regard 
to  facts  and  especially  beliefs  and  motives;  that  mis¬ 
understandings,  rumors  and  grievances  grow  and  mul¬ 
tiply  with  time  and  repetition,  it  is  easy  to  see  how 
natural  it  was  that  hundreds  of  people  should  respond 
to  the  call  and  come  to  Cincinnati  for  a  pre-convention 
congress. 

After  the  active  participants  in  the  congress  had 
spent  two  days  in  public  and  private  discussion  of 
their  suspicions  and  injuries,  and  had  lashed  one  an¬ 
other  into  a  frenzy  of  hostility  toward  all  the  work 
and  workers  of  the  boards  and  all  their  plans  and  pro¬ 
posals,  they  moved  into  the  convention  at  Music  Hall 
with  the  well  advertised  and  carefully  organized  pur¬ 
pose  of  upsetting  everything. 

They  chose  for  their  attack  the  session  of  the  Amer¬ 
ican  Christian  Missionary  Society,  over  which  Presi- 


274 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 

dent  F.  W.  Burnham  was  presiding.  The  board  ’s  rec¬ 
ommendation  that  the  society  join  with  the  Foreign 
Christian  Missionary  Society,  Christian  Woman’s 
Board  of  Missions,  National  Benevolent  Association 
and  Board  of  Ministerial  Relief  to  form  the  United 
Christian  Missionary  Society  was  the  signal  for  the 
offensive.  The  air  was  electrical  with  the  impending 
storm.  Leaders  of  the  opposition  broke  forth  with 
charges  of  autocratic  methods,  unscriptural  teachings 
and  luxurious  extravagance  against  all  the  officers  of 
all  the  boards.  The  purport  of  it  all  was  that,  both 
those  who  had  grown  gray  in  the  service  and  those  who 
had  been  called  but  recently  from  responsible  pastor¬ 
ates,  were  engaged  in  a  secret  and  sinister  conspiracy 
to  deliver  the  churches  of  Christ  over  to  German  ra¬ 
tionalism,  all  for  the  enrichment  and  glorification,  in 
some  mysterious  way,  of  the  conspirators. 

According  to  the  prosecutors  Mr.  McLean  was  one 
of  the  chief  tyrants  and  traitors,  but  his  accusers  were 
not  at  all  partial.  The  super-heated  indictments  were 
comprehensive  enough  to  include  every  officer  of  every 
board.  The  critics  were  shown  every  courtesy  and 
allowed  to  express  themselves  without  reserve.  This 
in  itself  was  a  clear  refutation  of  one  of  their  gravest 
charges.  When  an  accusation  against  the  chairman 
became  definite  enough  for  a  categorical  denial  he 
promptly  made  it  and  challenged  the  accuser  to  pro¬ 
duce  his  evidence.  This  immediately  faded  into  a 
report  of  a  repetition  of  a  five-year-old  conversation 
of  entirely  different  import.  Other  charges  were  mani¬ 
festly  twenty  years  old  and  concerned  former  adminis¬ 
trations.  Some  of  the  most  violent  were  aimed  at  F. 
M.  Rains,  a  hero  of  Christ’s  service  who  was  known 
to  be  on  his  deathbed  at  that  moment,  twenty  years 
before  his  time  because  of  his  abundant  labors.  With 
quiet  self-control  the  officers  allowed  the  storm  to 


UNITED  SOCIETY  OFFICERS  NOT  FROM  THE  FOREIGN  SOCIETY 

1.  F.  W.  Burnham,  2.  G.  K.  Lewis,  3.  R.  M.  Hopkins,  4.  W.  F.  Turner, 
5.  Anna  R.  Atwater,  6.  Efhe  L.  Cunningham,  7.  Susanne  Moffett,  8. 
Josephine  M.  Stearns,  9.  Ellie  K.  Payne,  10.  Affra  B.  Anderson,  P. 
Daisy  June  Trout,  12.  Esther  Treudley  Johnson,  13.  John  H.  Booth, 
14.  G.  W.  Muckley,  15.  M.  H.  Gray,  16.  J.  H.  Mohorter,  17.  F.  E.  Smith, 

18.  W.  R.  Warren. 


TESTS  OF  FIRMNESS  AND  FAIRNESS  275 


break  its  fury  upon  its  own  violence.  Even  the  oppo¬ 
sition  paid  high  tribute  to  the  forbearance  and  fair¬ 
ness  with  which  they  were  heard.  Most  of  those  pres¬ 
ent  recognized  the  plain  marks  of  strength  and  cour¬ 
age,  integrity  and  unselfishness  in  all  of  the  official 
group.  The  vote  was  overwhelmingly  in  favor  of  or¬ 
ganizing  the  United  Christian  Missionary  Society  as 
proposed,  and  later  for  all  other  recommendations  of 
the  boards. 

The  severest  trial  both  of  A.  McLean’s  firmness  and 
of  his  fairness  came  in  his  last  convention,  that  of  St. 
Louis  in  1920.  Here,  as  at  Cincinnati  in  1919,  a  pre- 
convention  congress  was  held  for  the  express  purpose 
of  so  organizing  and  energizing  the  opposition  that  it 
might  control  the  convention.  Mr.  McLean  and  other 
officers  of  the  societies  attended  the  congress,  took  the 
platform  and  answered  conclusively  every  charge 
brought  against  them.  He  claimed  no  immunity  for 
himself  on  account  of  his  years  of  service  and  his 
known  sacrifices.  He  gave  each  accuser  credit  for 
being  sincere,  even  when  the  charges  were  most  pre¬ 
posterous  and  patently  vengeful.  Equally  illuminating 
with  his  bearing  in  the  congress  are  the  notes  which 
he  wrote,  evidently  for  his  own  interest  alone.  In 
these  he  commended  the  fairness  and  promptness  of 
all  the  decisions  of  the  president  of  the  congress,  ex¬ 
cept  when  he  ruled  that  no  one  should  vote  who  was 
not  in  accord  with  the  purpose  of  the  congress.  Even 
that  he  recognized  as  in  harmony  with  the  undemo¬ 
cratic  character  of  the  meeting.  He  praised  the  few 
constructive  utterances  of  the  speakers  while  regret¬ 
ting  the  general  negative  and  destructive  nature  of  the 
program.  He  mentioned  by  name  many  of  the  leading 
participants  and  characterized  each  of  them  senten- 
tiously  and  sympathetically.  There  is  a  brotherly 
smile  in  all  of  these  personal  references.  The  conven- 


276 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


tion  itself  finally  and  fully  vindicated  his  administra¬ 
tion  of  the  sacred  trust  which  he  had  carried  for 
thirty-nine  years,  but  men  whom  he  had  loved  and 
honored  in  each  of  the  theological  extremes  of  the 
brotherhood,  came  to  amazing  agreement  in  charging 
the  straight-dealing  president  of  the  Foreign  Christian 
Missionary  Society  with  duplicity.  And  even  under 
such  reviling  there  was  a  man  of  Clan  McLean  who 
reviled  not  again! 

As  some  tall  cliff  that  lifts  its  awful  form, 

Swells  from  the  vale,  and  midway  leaves  the  storm, 
Though  round  its  breast  the  rolling  clouds  are  spread, 
Eternal  sunshine  settles  on  its  head. 

Near  the  time  of  the  St.  Louis  convention,  a  promi¬ 
nent  minister  wrote  the  following  letter  to  Mr. 
McLean.  Hundreds  of  conversions  like  tills  occurred 
every  year  of  the  thirty-nine  that  he  served  the  soci¬ 
ety. 

There  is  a  bit  of  personal  matter  that  I  want  to  write  you 
about.  Some  years  ago  while  a  beginning  student  at  Drake, 
I  was  guilty  of  writing  you  some  very  impudent  letters.  Out 
of  my  own  ignorance  and  urged  on  by  men  who  should  have, 
and  perhaps  did  know  better,  but  sought  to  embarrass  you, 
I  said  many  things  for  which  I  have  been  for  a  long  time 
very  sorry.  I  know  that  you  have  forgotten  the  whole  affair, 
for  you  doubtless  receive  many  such  letters  from  immature, 
thoughtless  and  sometimes  wilful  men,  but  I  have  not.  Your 
kindliness  at  the  time  ought  to  have  been  sufficient  proof  of 
my  error,  but  ignorance  is  seldom  able  to  recognize  so  great 
a  virtue.  Maturity,  knowledge  and  the  ability  to  evaluate 
properly  men  and  affairs  have  wrought  a  very  great  change 
in  my  thinking.  I  have  longed  to  say  these  things  to  you 
personally,  but  have  lacked  opportunity.  I  trust  however, 
belated  as  this  may  be,  that  it  may  receive  the  seal  of  your 
forgiveness. 

In  the  heart  of  Archibald  McLean  there  was  always 
faith  in  the  eternal  power  of  the  truth;  reliance  upon 


DECLARATION  OF  FAITH 


277 


the  final  good  sense  and  fairness  of  the  people  of  God; 
confidence  that,  since  God  lives,  his  benign  sway  shall 
vet  extend  “from  sea  to  sea  and  from  the  river  to 
the  ends  of  the  earth.”  Roth  the  integrity  of  his  own 
faith  and  this  assurance  of  the  ultimate  complete  tri¬ 
umph  of  the  truth  he  expressed  in  the  following  words 
in  answer  to  an  attack  in  1907 : 

I  believe  in  the  deity  of  Jesus  Christ;  that  he  was  God 
manifested  in  the  flesh;  that  on  his  head  are  many  diadems; 
that  in  his  hand  there  is  the  scepter  of  universal  dominion; 
that  on  his  vesture  and  on  his  thigh  there  is  the  inscription 
“King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,”  that  to  him  every  knee 
shall  bow;  and  that  he  shall  fill  and  control  all  things.  My 
constant  desire  is  to  know  him  and  to  be  like  him  in  heart, 
in  thought  and  in  character.  My  ambition  is  to  serve  him 
every  day  and  to  the  fullest.  Some  day  I  trust  I  shall  have 
a  place  among  those  who  shall  cast  upon  the  jasper  pavement 
their  crowns  of  amaranth  and  gold  and  say,  “Thou  art 
worthy  to  receive  the  power  and  riches  and  wisdom  and  might 
and  glory  and  blessing/  *  I  accept  the  New  Testament  as  an 
all-sufficient  rule  of  faith  and  practice.  I  hold  that  it  is 
worth  more  than  all  the  other  books  that  have  been  written 
since  the  world  began.  It  is  inspired  of  God  and  is  able  to 
make  us  wise  unto  salvation.  I  believe  in  the  Christianity 
of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  in  the  evangelism  of  the  book  of 
Acts  and  in  the  theology  of  the  New  Testament.  I  exalt 
Jesus  the  Christ  as  the  Savior  and  Lord  of  all;  I  magnify 
the  Book  and  urge  all  to  obey  its  precepts  and  to  exemplify 
its  spirit. 


CHAPTER  XXI 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN  AND  THE  MINISTRY 

LOYALTY  TO  HIS  OWN  PASTOR — EFFORTS  TO  ENLIST  MINISTERS - 

"DOUBLING  THE  PREACHER'S  POWER" - QUOTATIONS — LECTURES  TO  PREACHERS 

—CONCERN  FOR  ENTIRE  LIFE  AND  ALL  RELATIONS - QUOTATIONS  FROM  "THE 

PREACHER'S  WIFE" — ADVICE  ON  MUCKLEY'S  PASTORATE  AND  MARRIAGE — 
MINISTERS'  CHILDREN — LONELINESS  CONFESSED  IN  LETTERS — ALWAYS  A 
PREACHER  HIMSELF. 

IV  T  B.  McLEAN  accounted  the  ministry  of  the  gospel 
the  greatest  calling  among  men  and  he  consid¬ 
ered  the  ministers  whom  he  knew  the  best  and  most 
useful  men  in  the  world.  He  delighted  in  their  com¬ 
pany.  He  remembered  them  in  his  prayers.  He  relied 
upon  their  counsel.  He  tried  in  every  way  possible  to 
assist  them  in  their  work.  There  is  material  for  a 
volume  in  the  record  of  his  relation  to  the  successive 
ministers  of  his  own  home  church,  first  Mt.  Healthy, 
then  Central,  Cincinnati,  and  finally  Union  Avenue,  St. 
Louis.  All  that  he  urged  others  to  do  in  support  of 
the  preacher  he  did  and  far  more.  If  in  the  city  he  was 
always  present  at  every  Sunday  and  midweek  service. 
He  sat  near  the  front  and  listened  so  earnestly  that 
he  called  forth  the  preacher's  best  message.  In  public 
and  in  private,  to  the  minister  himself  and  to  all  others, 
he  spoke  only  in  praise  of  his  pastor,  who  responded 
by  extending  himself  until  he  justified  Mr.  McLean’s 
encomiums,  if  he  had  not  before.  His  loyalty  to  his 
local  minister  magnified  his  regard  for  every  other 
minister. 

Probably  no  man  in  America,  and  certainly  none 
among  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  knew  personally  more 


278 


EFFORTS  TO  ENLIST  MINISTERS  279 


ministers  than  Mr.  McLean.  This  acquaintance  was 
not  of  a  casual,  perfunctory  sort,  but  was  intimate  and 
vital.  It  involved  concern  for  the  preacher’s  health, 
his  family,  his  work,  his  reading,  his  spiritual  growth. 
He  neglected  no  opportunity  for  meeting  and  talking 
with  the  ministers,  whether  at  conventions  and  rallies, 
in  his  own  office  or  when  passing  through  the  towns  in 
which  they  lived.  The  time  between  trains  which 
ordinary  travelers  occupy  with  newspapers  or  maga¬ 
zines  or  casual  conversation,  he  utilized  in  looking  up 
local  ministers. 

Few  other  men  of  his  day  realized  as  did  Mr.  McLean 
the  whole  world’s  need  of  ministers  and  missionaries, 
and  it  was  characteristic  of  the  childlike  faith  with 
which  he  followed  bis  Savior  that  he  sought  to  meet 
the  need  in  the  way  the  Savior  himself  prescribed,  by 
praying  the  Lord  of  the  harvest  to  send  forth  laborers 
into  his  harvest.  Then  with  practical  common  sense 
he  strove  to  assist  in  answering  liis  own  prayers. 
Wherever  he  found  a  young  man  of  capacity  and 
promise  who  seemed  inclined  toward  the  ministry  he 
gave  him  every  encouragement  and  assistance  to  de¬ 
velop  and  realize  that  purpose.  He  spoke  to  him  on 
the  subject  with  sympathy  and  understanding.  He 
gave  him  books  that  he  thought  would  prove  helpful, 
wrote  him  letters  of  counsel  and  encouragement  and 
remembered  him  by  name  in  his  prayers. 

The  following  letter  to  Frederick  Spragens  was  the 
result  of  a  conversation  with  his  father,  Stanley 
Spragens,  who  for  many  years  audited  the  books  of  the 
Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  February  2,  1920. 

Dear  Fred: 

Yesterday  your  father  told  me  that  you  had  it  in  your 
heart  to  become  a  medical  missionary.  I  rejoice  in  that  fact. 
If  I  were  your  age  that  is  just  what  I  would  like  to  do.  I  can 


280 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


think  of  no  life  so  satisfying  and  so  fruitful  of  good  as  that 
of  the  man  who  goes  out  to  some  Christless  land  to  heal  the 
sick  and  to  give  the  people  a  knowledge  of  Christ  and  of  his 
saving  grace  and  power. 

I  am  sending  you  a  book  and  hope  that  you  will  read  it. 
I  am  sure  that  you  will  find  it  more  interesting  than  any 
novel.  And  there  is  this  in  its  favor:  it  is  true,  every  word 
of  it.  Let  your  father  and  mother  read  it  and  then  talk  to 
them  about  the  men  and  women  who  have  served  as  medical 
missionaries.  Talk  with  them  about  the  need  of  such  men 
and  women  right  now. 

Dear  Fred,  let  nothing  turn  you  aside  from  your  purpose. 
It  is  very  likely  that  the  good  Lord  planted  that  purpose  in 
your  heart  and  life.  If  so,  you  will  do  the  best  for  yourself 
and  for  the  world  by  adhering  steadfastly  to  it.  (let  the 
best  preparation  you  can  get  in  the  best  schools  in  the  world. 
And  when  you  have  the  preparation  necessary,  go  out  into 
the  field  and  spend  your  life  there  under  the  loving  and  wise 
leadership  of  Jesus  Christ  the  Lord  and  Savior  of  mankind. 
Tell  me  from  time  to  time  how  you  are  getting  on;  perhaps 
I  can  help  you  in  some  ways.  God  bless  you,  my  boy,  and  all 
who  love  you  and  all  whom  you  love. 

Affectionately  yours, 

A.  McLean. 

Mr.  McLean  was  continually  amazed  and  distressed 
by  the  opposition  of  Christian  parents  to  their  children 
entering  the  ministry  or  becoming  missionaries. 
Speaking  of  this  on  the  way  to  the  office  one  morning 
a  few  days  before  he  left  for  Battle  Creek  the  last 
time,  he  said,  “ - ’s  father  was  bitterly  op¬ 

posed  to  his  son’s  becoming  a  missionary.  After¬ 
wards  he  was  not  only  reconciled  but  proud  of  his 
work.  For  two  years  he  refused  to  write  to  him.  If 
he  had  gone  to  the  penitentiary  he  would  have  written 
to  him  every  week.” 

His  tract  on  Doubling  the  Preacher’s  Power ,  men¬ 
tioned  in  an  earlier  chapter,  was  addressed  to  the 
membership  of  the  churches  and  contained  the  fol¬ 
lowing  suggestions  which  he  amplified  and  enforced 


DOUBLING  THE  PREACHER’S  POWER  281 


so  effectively  that  the  leaflet  is  still  being  widely  cir¬ 
culated. 

1.  By  making  it  a  matter  of  conscience  to  attend  all  the 
public  services.  Empty  pews  take  the  heart  out  of  a  speaker. 
The  members  will  do  well  to  fill  the  front  seats  first.  If  there 
are  any  vacant  ones  let  them  be  in  the  wings  or  at  the  rear. 
Eloquence  is  like  gravitation.  Its  effect  is  inversely  as  the 
square  of  the  distance.  The  farther  the  hearer  is  from  the 
speaker,  the  less  good  he  receives. 

2.  By  listening  with  attention  and  sympathy.  Professor 
B.  A.  Hinsdale  held  that  audiences  should  endeavor  to  mani¬ 
fest  interest  even  if  they  did  not  feel  it  at  first.  As  they 
listen  they  will  generate  interest  and  at  the  same  time  will 
aid  the  speaker. 

3.  By  speaking  well  of  him  and  his  work.  Let  the  com¬ 
munity  know  the  esteem  in  which  he  is  held  by  those  closest 
to  him.  Spurgeon  said  that  he  owed  his  success  largely  to 
the  fact  that  his  people  talked  about  him.  They  talked  him 
up  and  not  down.  They  expatiated  on  his  good  qualities 
and  were  dumb  about  his  defects. 

4.  By  allowing  him  ample  time  for  study  and  communion 
with  God.  No  wise  church  will  make  an  errand  boy  or  a 
floorwalker  of  the  man  whose  office  is  that  of  a  prophet  of 
the  Lord.  How  is  a  man  to  meet  his  people  with  his  face 
shining  with  the  glory  of  the  Lord  and  a  message  that  will 
stir  their  hearts  and  consciences  after  a  week  frittered  away 
looking  after  the  machinery  of  a  great  parish? 

6.  By  letting  him  know  and  feel  that  so  long  as  he  does 
good  work  he  will  not  be  obliged  to  seek  another  field. 

Another  way  of  doubling  the  preacher ’s  power  is  by  gener¬ 
ous  treatment,  by  paying  him  what  his  services  are  worth 
and  what  the  church  is  well  able  to  pay.  It  should  be  said 
that  the  generous  support  of  the  ministers  is  in  harmony  with 
the  will  of  God.  What  a  minister  receives  is  not  salary ;  it  is 
not  an  equivalent  for  the  services  he  renders.  He  is  sup¬ 
ported,  he  is  not  paid  in  full  for  value  received.  Those  who 
think  that  a  minister  should  be  paid  no  more  than  a  clerk  or 
a  mechanic  should  know  that  a  minister  must  give  away  more 
in  a  year  than  a  clerk  or  a  mechanic  receives.  The  best 
interests  of  a  church  require  this. 


282 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


No  man  understood  more  clearly  than  Mr.  McLean 
that  it  rested  with  the  preacher  himself  to  more  than 
double  his  power.  He  delivered  several  different  lec¬ 
tures  and  addresses  looking  in  this  direction,  such 
as  The  Qualifications  of  the  Christian  Ministry , 
Preaching  to  the  Conscience ,  and  Alexander  Campbell 
as  a  Preacher.  He  knew  the  manifold  temptations 
that  beset  the  minister.  Delicately  but  unfailingly 
he  was  ever  seeking  to  strengthen  their  hands  and 
hearts.  One  of  the  first  questions  he  would  ask  of  any 
minister  he  met  was,  “What  have  you  been  reading 
lately  V9  He  wanted  to  discover  the  best  things  to 
read  himself,  and  he  wanted  to  suggest  tactfully  to 
the  preacher  that  he  must  continue  to  read,  that  his 
education  was  not  completed  in  college. 

His  concern  was  not  merely  for  the  public  service 
of  the  minister  but  for  his  entire  human  life.  He  did 
not  think  of  the  ministry  as  a  profession  but  as  a 
calling,  and  he  made  a  profound  difference  between 
the  two  terms.  Each  individual  minister  was  to  him 
not  merely  a  fellow  worker  in  the  Kingdom  of  God 
but  a  personal  friend ;  everything  that  concerned  him 
was  a  matter  of  interest  to  Mr.  McLean.  When  he 
met  a  preacher  at  a  convention  and  inquired  by  name 
about  the  several  members  of  his  family,  it  was  not 
mere  politeness  but  genuine  interest  that  prompted  the 
questions.  His  regard  was  not  limited  to  the  min¬ 
isters  and  their  families  but  extended  to  all  the  people 
of  his  acquaintance.  It  was  especially  strong  for  min¬ 
isters  and  their  households  both  because  he  had  more 
and  better  opportunities  for  knowing  them  and  because 
of  their  complete  engrossment  in  the  affairs  of  the 
kingdom. 

Because  of  his  extensive  acquaintance  both  with 
ministers  and  with  churches  and  their  representative 
members,  he  was  consulted  almost  daily  by  churches 


283 


'‘THE  FEE  ACKER’S  WIFE” 


that  were  seeking*  pastors  and  by  ministers  who  were 
considering  a  change  of  location.  He  was  careful  and 
conscientious  to  the  last  degree  in  giving  advice  on  this 
as  on  other  matters.  If  he  erred  it  was  in  expecting 
more  of  a  particular  preacher  than  he  was  able  to  do. 
His  love  for  his  fellow  ministers  made  him  “believe 
all  things;  hope  all  things,”  and  yet  did  not  blind  him 
to  their  manifest  limitations.  The  churches  that  ac¬ 
cepted  his  recommendations  were  seldom  disappointed. 
On  the  contrary  he  was  continually  discovering  in  un¬ 
developed  young  men  powers  and  possibilities  that 
their  nearest  friends,  and  even  they  themselves,  had 
not  recognized. 

His  intimate  knowledge  of  the  problems  of  the  local 
minister  and  even  of  his  wife  and  children  surprised 
his  friends.  We  have  observed  the  astonishment  with 
which  people  heard  and  read  his  address  on  The 
Preacher’s  Wife.  That  masterpiece  of  sympathetic 
understanding  was  published  in  the  Christian  Standard 
in  1898.  In  the  course  of  it  he  said : 

I  have  been  the  guest  of  these  gracious  women  in  all  parts 
of  this  land  and  all  around  the  globe.  *  *  *  I  was  hungry 
and  they  fed  me;  I  was  thirsty  and  they  gave  me  drink;  I 
was  a  stranger  and  they  took  me  in;  I  was  sick  and  they 
ministered  to  me.  If  I  forget  their  kindness  and  beneficence 
let  my  right  hand  forget  its  cunning.  What  I  know  of 
women  of  this  class  has  raised  my  estimation  of  the  race  as  a 
whole. 

The  typical  preacher’s  wife  is  a  many-sided  woman.  She 
is  an  accomplished  cook.  Her  dishes  are  palatable  and  digest¬ 
ible.  She  knows  that  the  surest  way  to  a  man’s  heart  is 
through  his  stomach.  She  is  a  financier.  It  has  been  said 
that  preachers  have  no  business  sense.  If  they  have  not,  it 
is  evident  someone  in  the  family  has.  On  very  modest  in¬ 
comes  preachers’  families  are  well  fed  and  clothed;  the  chil¬ 
dren  are  sent  to  school  and  to  the  university.  A  preacher’s 
wife  can  make  money  go  farther  than  any  wizard  of  Wall 


284  ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 

Street.  She  trains  her  children  for  lives  of  usefulness  and 
nobleness. 

The  preacher’s  wife  is  diligent  in  all  good  works.  She 
teaches  in  the  Sunday  school,  sings  in  the  choir,  and  leads  in 
the  aid  and  missionary  societies.  In  time  of  revival  she 
speaks  to  the  halting  and  the  perplexed.  If  any  have  gone 
astray  she  seeks  to  bring  them  back  to  the  Shepherd  and 
Bishop  of  their  souls.  She  is  an  example  to  all  in  patience, 
in  faith,  in  love,  in  purity.  She  allures  to  brighter  worlds 
and  leads  the  way.  If  there  is  strife  or  alienation  she  is  a 
reconciler.  She  is  her  husband’s  wisest  critic  and  counselor 
and  his  most  efficient  assistant.  She  helps  him  in  the  prepa¬ 
ration  of  his  sermons  and  sees  that  they  are  neither  too  long 
nor  too  thin.  *  *  *  In  addition  to  all  these  other  graces 

she  is  a  capital  listener.  *  *  *  She  never  fails  to  find 

much  to  commend.  If  the  preacher  is  discouraged  she  makes 
him  believe  in  himself.  She  causes  him  not  to  “bate  a  jot  of 
heart  or  hope,  but  still  bear  up  and  steer  right  onward.  ’  ’  The 
preacher’s  wife  is  the  good  angel  of  the  community.  She  is 
a  helper  and  a  friend  of  mankind. 

He  gives  a  number  of  striking  examples,  some  from 
his  own  acquaintance,  some  historical,  like  the  wives 
of  Spurgeon,  Chalmers,  Dean  Stanley  and  Bishop 
Reginald  Heber.  From  Spurgeon,  he  quotes  a  letter 
in  verse  which  the  great  preacher  wrote  his  wife. 

Over  the  space  that  parts  us,  my  wife, 

I  will  cast  my  bridge  of  song, 

Our  hearts  shall  meet,  0  joy  of  my  life, 

On  its  arch  unseen,  but  strong. 

And  as  every  drop  of  Garda’s  lake 
Is  tinged  with  the  sapphire ’s  blue, 

So  all  the  powers  of  my  mind  partake 
Of  joy  at  the  thought  of  you. 

All  earth-born  love  must  sleep  in  the  grave, 

To  its  native  dust  return; 

That  God  hath  kindled  shall  death  out-brave. 

And  in  heaven  itself  shall  burn. 


“THE  PREACHER’S  WIFE” 


285 


Do  not  think  that  I  hold  all  preacher’s  wives  are  of  this 
sort.  There  is  another  side  to  the  picture.  One,  so  it  is  said, 
reads  Kant  and  Hegel  and  Schopenhauer  and  Schleiermacher, 
and  leaves  her  husband  to  wash  and  dress  the  babies  and  keep 
their  noses  nice.  Another  spent  most  of  the  week  making  fun 
of  her  husband ’s  sermons  and  prayers.  When  he  went  to  the 
midweek  service,  she  went  to  the  opera.  When  he  preached, 
she  flirted  with  the  boys  in  the  choir. 

#  #  *  #  • 

It  is  because  once  in  a  while  a  preacher  marries  a  sloven 
or  a  tartar  that  these  bright  and  accomplished  young  preach¬ 
ers  linger,  shivering  on  the  brink  and  fear  to  launch  away. 
They  prefer  to  bear  the  ills  they  have  than  to  fly  to  others 
they  know  not  of.  They  should  take  heed  to  the  sage  advice : 
Be  sure  you  are  right,  then  go  ahead. 

#  #  #  *  # 

There  are  exceptions,  but  they  are  few.  John  T.  Johnson, 
that  princely  gentleman,  used  to  say  that  when  he  got  to 
heaven  if  there  was  only  one  crown  left  he  would  ask  that  it 
might  be  put  on  his  wife’s  head.  Our  pioneers  went  out  and 
preached  and  turned  the  world  upside  down.  Their  wives 
remained  at  home  and  managed  the  farms  and  brought  up  the 
children  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord;  they 
made  success  possible. 

#  #  *  #  # 

These  women  deserve  all  possible  honor  and  admiration. 
Friends,  let  us  not  keep  all  our  flowers  for  their  dead  fingers 
and  all  our  words  of  affection  and  appreciation  till  they  lie 
beneath  the  turf  with  daisies  pied.  Let  them  know  while 
they  live  what  we  think  of  them  and  the  sendees  they  are 
rendering  the  church  and  the  world.  When  the  sweet  Christ¬ 
mas  season  comes  let  us  not  forget  them. 

Mr.  McLean  always  took  a  deep  interest  in  young 
ministers  and  many  of  them  turned  to  him  with  confi¬ 
dence  for  advice.  Just  before  his  graduation  from 
Bethany  College  in  1886,  George  W.  Muckley,  since 
celebrated  as  secretary  of  the  Board  of  Church  Exten¬ 
sion,  told  Mr.  McLean  of  two  calls  that  he  had  re¬ 
ceived,  one  from  the  Fergus  Street  Church  in  Cin- 


286 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


cinnati,  now  North  Side,  at  $600,  and  the  other  from 
the  Broad  Street  Church  of  Columbus,  at  $1,200.  He 
explained  how  he  was  considerably  in  debt  for  his 
education  and  was  naturally  anxious  to  repay  these 
loans  as  soon  as  possible.  After  he  had  stated  the 
case  and  made  it  clear  that  he  was  strongly  inclined 
to  accept  the  Columbus  call,  Mr.  McLean  exclaimed, 
“Oh,  you  are  looking  for  a  loud  call!  You  wanted  a 
loud  call,  didn’t  you?”  The  implication  was  not  lost 
on  the  young  preacher  and  he  went  to  the  harder  field 
at  the  smaller  salary.  The  sacrifice  of  the  moment 
fully  justified  itself  in  the  splendid  growth  of  the 
Fergus  Street  or  Cummins ville  Church,  and  especially 
in  the  fellowship  the  location  allowed  its  young  min¬ 
ister  to  enjoy  with  Archibald  McLean,  Isaac  Errett 
and  other  leaders  of  that  day. 

When  Muckley  had  paid  his  college  debts,  he  confided 
to  Mr.  McLean  that  he  was  expecting  to  marry  soon. 
Mr.  McLean  was  acquainted  with  Miss  Daisy  Hartman 
of  Independence,  Pennsylvania,  just  across  the  state 
line  from  Bethany.  She  also  was  a  graduate  of  Beth¬ 
any  College,  and  Mr.  McLean  had  been  aware  of  the  en¬ 
gagement  for  some  time.  There  was  one  difficulty  in 
connection  with  the  proposed  marriage.  There  ought 
to  be  a  wedding  trip  but  Muckley  had  no  money  to 
bear  the  expenses  of  such  a  luxury.  Should  he  delay 
the  wedding  or  deny  the  bride  this  highly  deserved 
testimonial  of  his  devotion?  Mr.  McLean  promptly 
answered,  “Neither.  Take  the  trip  and  I  will  lend 
you  the  money.”  The  plans  for  the  wedding  went 
through  promptly  and  included  the  traditional  wedding 
journey  through  the  Great  Lakes  and  to  Niagara 
Falls.  Not  until  after  he  had  fully  repaid  the  cost  of 
the  journey  did  the  young  man  permit  his  bride  to 
know  that  they  had  traveled  on  borrowed  funds.  Mr. 
McLean  was  austere  only  with  himself.  He  wanted 


YOUNG  MINISTERS 


others  to  have  all  of  the  best  that  life  afforded,  though 
as  indicated  in  his  implied  advice  on  the  choice  of  a 
pastorate,  he  fully  realized  that  the  ministry  neces 
sarily  involves  self-sacrifice. 

He  was  a  lover  of  all  children,  but  between  him  and 
the  boys  and  girls  of  ministers  and  missionaries  there 
was  a  particularly  strong  bond.  Stopping  one  day  at 
the  home  of  J.  Randall  Farris,  minister  at  that  time  of 
the  church  at  Union  City,  Tennessee,  he  had  a  delight¬ 
ful  evening  with  the  family.  When  the  time  came  for 
the  children  to  retire  they  refused  to  go  to  bed  unless 
Mr.  McLean  would  go  in  and  hear  them  say  their 
prayers.  This  he  cheerfully  agreed  to  do.  When  they 
were  ready  he  kneeled  with  them  by  the  side  of  their 
little  bed  and  listened  reverently  to  their  evening 
prayers. 

Mr.  McLean’s  letters  helped  many  a  minister  over 
times  of  crisis  and  bereavement  in  his  life.  They  were 
brief  and  not  overloaded  with  advice,  but  they  were 
freighted  with  quiet  confidence,  unhesitating  faith  and 
unbounded  affection.  They  came  at  the  right  moment 
and  they  showed  a  weird  appreciation  of  the  fact  that 
even  in  the  midst  of  devoted  friends  the  minister 
dwells  alone ;  his  intimate  friends  must  be  outside  his 
own  congregation;  in  its  circle  all  must  be  alike  to 
him. 

An  example  of  the  way  his  solicitude  followed  the 
children  of  the  manse  whose  growth  he  had  watched 
in  many  instances  from  infancy,  appears  in  his  letters 
to  the  sons  of  ministers  who  enlisted  in  the  World  War. 
The  marriages  of  his  young  friends  were  also  matters 
of  moment  with  him.  He  sent  them  gifts  and  wrote 
them  letters  that  showed  an  eager  satisfaction  in  their 
happiness.  Three  of  these  letters  follow. 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  November  26,  1918. 
Cadet  David  M.  Rioch, 

Long  Branch,  Ontario,  Canada. 

My  dear  David : 

Your  mother  has  given  us  your  address  and  I  am  writing 
you  this  line  this  morning.  I  am  wondering  what  you  are 
going  to  do  now  that  the  war  is  over.  Are  you  going  right 
on  and  after  you  complete  your  training  go  abroad  or  are 
you  going  to  be  released  so  that  you  can  return  to  Indianapolis 
and  complete  your  work  in  Butler  College? 

I  feel  that  you  did  well  in  volunteering  as  you  did.  I 
believe  you  will  always  look  back  upon  your  willingness  to 
serve  with  satisfaction.  You  dedicated  your  life  to  a  great 
cause.  You  were  not  permitted  to  go  overseas  with  your 
comrades  but  you  did  what  you  were  able  to  do.  I  congratu¬ 
late  you  on  the  decision  made  and  on  the  course  that  you  have 
pursued. 

I  trust  things  are  going  well  with  you  day  by  day.  May 
the  good  Lord  abundantly  bless  you  and  bring  you  back  to 
your  dear  ones  in  good  health  and  in  the  best  of  spirits,  and 
pledged  as  never  before  to  the  service  of  our  Lord. 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  McLean. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  July  18,  1919. 

Midshipman  A.  E.  Gray, 

Annapolis,  Maryland. 

My  dear  Archibald: 

I  have  heard  through  Professor  and  Mrs.  Gray  that  you 
have  entered  the  navy.  This  was  a  genuine  surprise  to  me. 
I  had  thought  that  perhaps  you  would  enter  some  other  call¬ 
ing  more  like  that  to  which  your  father  has  devoted  his  life, 
but  it  may  be  that  the  choice  you  have  made  will  prove  to  be 
the  very  best  possible.  No  doubt  for  a  time  you  will  feel 
lonely,  as  you  will  be  separated  from  those  that  you  know  and 
love,  but  the  homesickness  will  wear  off  in  time  and  you 
will  feel  at  home  in  the  Academy.  You  will  make  friends 
rapidly  and  will  be  happy  in  the  work  in  which  you  are 
engaged.  I  believe  the  teaching  and  the  discipline  will  do 
you  a  world  of  good.  My  hope  is  that  you  will  prove  to  be 
a  good  man  wherever  your  lot  may  be  cast  and  that  you  will 
always  stand  for  the  best  things  even  as  your  parents  stand 


MINISTERS’  CHILDREN 


289 


and  have  stood  for  them.  I  feel  sure  that  all  who  know  you 
will  be  proud  of  you  as  the  years  come  and  go.  We  all  believe 
that  you  will  make  a  good  record  in  the  Academy  and  on 
board  ship,  if  you  decide  to  continue  permanently  in  the  navy. 

This  day  I  am  sending  you  a  little  book.*  I  trust  that  you 
will  read  it  some  every  day.  It  is  so  small  that  you  can  carry 
it  in  your  pocket  and  dip  into  it  in  odd  moments  of  leisure. 
It  will  help  to  make  a  man  of  you.  It  will  do  you  as  much 
good  as  any  of  the  textbooks  in  the  institution,  and  more,  if 
read  and  followed.  The  good  Lord  deal  well  with  you.  May 
he  protect  you  against  every  evil.  May  he  bless  you  with 
his  wondrous  grace.  If  you  should  feel  like  dropping  me  a 
line  from  time  to  time,  I  would  be  thankful. 

Wishing  you  every  good  thing,  I  remain, 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  McLean. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  May  11,  1920. 

Mr.  Sheldon  Medbury, 

Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

My  dear  Sheldon : 

This  day  I  am  sending  you  a  little  book  entitled  The  Daily 
Alta r.  I  am  sending  it  to  you  as  a  gift  in  honor  of  your  recent 
marriage.  I  trust  that  you  and  Mrs.  Medbury  will  find  it 
convenient  to  read  one  page  in  this  book  at  your  breakfast 
table  or  at  some  other  time  every  day  in  the  year.  I  believe 
you  will  find  this  book  most  interesting  and  most  helpful. 
The  day  will  be  brighter  and  more  joyous  if  you  will  comply 
with  this  request. 

Let  me  congratulate  you  both  most  heartily  on  your  mar¬ 
riage  and  express  the  wish  that  your  lives  may  be  more  full 
of  joy  and  happiness  than  ever  before.  The  good  Lord 
abundantly  bless  you  and  use  you  in  his  service  to  his  glory. 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  McLean. 

Of  course  there  were  times  of  great  loneliness  for 
Mr.  McLean,  though  he  seldom  mentioned  the  fact 
even  to  his  nearest  friends.  After  the  Grays  left  Mt. 
Healthy  some  of  his  letters  to  them  revealed  his  feel¬ 
ings.  September  12,  1905,  he  wrote : 


•New  Testament. 


290 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


I  do  not  wonder  that  Archibald  (named  for  Mr.  McLean) 
wanted  to  come  back  to  his  own  home.  I  was  out  on  Sunday 
and  tried  to  speak  to  the  people.  The  place  is  not  the  same. 
The  manse  is  dark  and  uninviting.  Doors  and  windows  were 
closed.  The  day  was  rainy  and  the  audience  was  small.  The 
room  was  somewhat  dark.  I  found  no  inspiration  in  trying 
to  speak.  The  Doctor  (Kilgour)  and  his  people  were  not 
there.  I  have  not  felt  so  strange  in  a  long  time. 

I  am  pleased  to  know  that  you  have  secured  such  a  pleas¬ 
ant  place  to  live  in.  I  am  sure  you  will  like  Ann  Arbor  after 
you  are  there  a  little  while.  It  is  a  beautiful  place.  It  is 
the  most  interesting  place  in  Michigan.  Grace  and  Archibald 
and  the  Doctor  will  like  it  more  and  more.  But  the  Mt. 
Healthy  people  are  like  sheep  without  a  shepherd.  Mr. 
Runyan  declined  the  call.  Where  am  I  to  go  when  I  go  out? 
I  can  always  find  an  open  door  and  abundant  provisions. 
But  one  household  will  not  be  there.  You  and  the  Doctor 
will  not  come  over  to  the  Eden  to  see  me  and  tell  me  about 
books  and  other  things.  But  such  is  life.  It  will  not  pay 
to  cry  over  spilt  milk.  The  past  is  secure.  We  have  many 
pleasant  memories;  these  will  feed  the  heart  and  will  do  in 
lieu  of  what  we  once  enjoyed.  The  good  Lord  be  gracious  to 
you  all. 

October  25,  he  said: 

We  miss  you  down  this  way.  I  need  not  tell  you  that. 
No  one  ever  calls  now  except  the  washerwoman,  and  she  calls 
for  her  hire  and  for  no  other  purpose.  She  is  as  black  as 
night. 

Even  after  four  years,  when  the  Grays  had  moved  to 
Eureka,  he  wrote: 

On  Sunday  I  spoke  twice  in  Mt.  Healthy.  Mr.  Kempher 
was  absent  and  I  did  my  best  to  supply  his  place.  On  Sun¬ 
day  night  I  spoke  on  The  Religious  Significance  of  the  Dis¬ 
covery  of  the  North  Pole.  The  subject  might  sound  a  trifle 
sensational;  but  the  subject  matter  was  not.  Since  then 
Peary  has  discovered  the  Pole  again.  I  do  not  know  what 
I  shall  do  next  time.  The  people  appeared  interested.  Aunt 
Lizzie  told  me  I  was  getting  smarter  all  the  time.  She 
thought  you  could  preach  all  around  me  and  all  over  me.  But 


ALWAYS  A  PREACHER  291 

she  was  quite  complimentary  on  Sunday.  She  was  out  twice 
on  my  account. 

Mr.  McLean  never  ceased  to  be  himself  a  preacher 
of  the  gospel.  There  was  no  possible  suggestion  of 
clericalism  or  cant  about  him,  but  in  a  wholesome  way 
he  lived  up  to  the  injunction  of  Phillips  Brooks  that  a 
minister  should  never  forget  that  he  is  a  minister. 
His  being  a  missionary  propagandist  and  executive 
was  included  in  his  ministry.  It  enhanced  rather  than 
detracted  from  his  original  consecration.  The  eager¬ 
ness  with  which  state  conventions  listened,  in  his  last 
year,  to  his  presentation  of  the  great  spiritual  themes 
of  the  Christian  religion,  is  a  most  eloquent  testimony 
to  the  success  with  which  he  had  maintained  his  own 
religious  life  and  magnified  his  supreme  calling  as  a 
minister,  through  all  the  distractions  and  exactions  of 
his  busy  life.  By  constant  study,  wide  reading,  close 
observation  of  life  and  unfailing  prayer,  his  power  as 
a  preacher  of  essential  Christianity  was  kept  growing 
to  the  last.  His  joy  and  satisfaction  in  the  ministry 
also  increased  to  the  end. 


CHAPTER  XXII 


INTERCHURCH  RELATIONS 

CHRISTIAN  UNITY  AND  MISSIONS  INSEPARABLE — RECENT  ORIGIN  OF 

UNITED  MOVEMENTS — LONDON  MISSIONARY  CONFERENCE  OF  1888 - NEW  YORK,, 

1900 - EDINBURGH,  1910 - ANNUAL  FOREIGN  MISSIONS  CONFERENCE  OF 

NORTH  AMERICA — FRATERNAL  SPIRIT  PREVALENT  TODAY — UNION  ENTERPRISES 
OF  THE  UNITED  SOCIETY — THREE  ERAS  OF  MISSIONS — INTERCHURCH  WORLD 

MOVEMENT - PREPARATORY  CONFERENCES — FAILURE  OF  THE  CANVASS  AND 

PAYMENT  OF  UNDERWRITINGS. 

CHRISTIAN  unity  and  Christian  missions  were  in¬ 
separably  connected  in  the  mind  of  Archibald  Mc¬ 
Lean.  Sectarianism  at  home  was  an  unconscious  but 
efficient  ally  of  heathenism  abroad.  As  indicated  in 
earlier  chapters,  he  did  not  leave  his  missionary  inter¬ 
est  behind  when  he  left  the  church  of  his  father;  nor 
did  he  feel  that  the  church  of  his  adoption  was  under¬ 
taking  an  untried  experiment  when  the  Foreign  Chris¬ 
tian  Missionary  Society  was  organized  in  1875.  On 
the  contrary  he  considered  missions  an  essential  activ¬ 
ity  of  every  church  and  all  the  achievements  of  mis¬ 
sions  a  common  inheritance  of  all  Christians,  like  the 
hymns  of  faith  and  the  triumphs  of  the  martyrs. 

His  election  as  secretary  of  the  Foreign  Society  was 
a  recognition  not  only  of  his  ability  and  capacity  for 
leadership,  but  also  of  his  missionary  knowledge  and 
enthusiasm.  Immediately  after  he  accepted  the  re¬ 
sponsibility  for  promoting  missions  among  the  Dis¬ 
ciples  of  Christ  he  entered  upon  the  systematic  and 
comprehensive  study  of  all  that  had  been  and  was  be¬ 
ing  done  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world.  This 
study  he  continued  with  unabated  zeal  and  thorough- 


292 


CHRISTIAN  UNITY  AND  MISSIONS  293 


ness  to  tlie  end  of  his  days.  By  his  addresses  and 
writings  he  sought  to  bring  his  constituency  into  the 
same  fellowship  and  inheritance  of  missions  which  he 
himself  enjoyed.  He  ardently  hoped  that  the  Disciples 
would  eventually  make  a  substantial  contribution  to 
the  universal  missionary  movement,  both  directly  and 
through  their  plea  for  unity. 

Cooperation  among  Christians  is  so  general  and 
manifold  today  that  it  is  difficult  to  realize  that  Archi¬ 
bald  McLean  came  into  public  life  early  enough  to 
have  a  hand  in  most  of  its  developments.  The  Wom¬ 
an’s  Christian  Temperance  Union  was  organized  in 
1874,  the  very  year  he  began  his  ministry;  the  inter¬ 
national  and  interchurch  Sunday  school  lessons  were 
inaugurated  only  two  years  earlier;  the  first  Christian 
Endeavor  society  was  not  established  until  1881,  the 
year  before  he  became  a  missionary  secretary;  and 
most  of  the  other  larger  union  enterprises  came  later. 
The  Student  Volunteer  Missionary  Movement  origin¬ 
ated  in  1886  and  counted  Archibald  McLean  among 
its  most  enthusiastic  supporters  from  the  first.  He  at¬ 
tended  all  of  its  conventions,  except  possibly  the  one 
at  Rochester  in  1910,  where  Mr.  Rains  was  an  able 
proxy;  he  contributed  regularly  and  generously  to  its 
expenses;  he  magnified  its  relation  to  the  colleges  of 
the  brotherhood  on  his  annual  visits  to  them.  Men¬ 
tion  has  been  made  of  his  deeply  interested  attend¬ 
ance  upon  the  three  ecumenical  missionary  confer¬ 
ences:  London,  1888;  New  York,  1900;  Edinburgh, 
1910.  We  can  easily  imagine  what  great  events  these 
meetings  were  in  his  life  when  we  note  the  names  of 
some  of  the  men  and  women  who  took  part  in  the 
proceedings.  Previously  there  had  been  only  the 
meeting  at  New  York  in  1854,  when  Alexander  Duff 
visited  the  United  States;  the  British  conference  at 
Liverpool  in  1860,  attended  by  126  delegates;  and  an- 


294 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


other  at  London  in  1878,  when  a  few  visitors  from 
America  and  Continental  Europe  sat  with  the  Eng¬ 
lish,  Scotch  and  Irish  delegates,  making  a  total  mem¬ 
bership  of  158. 

The  societies  which  sent  1,494  representatives  to 
London  in  1888  were  supporting  between  five  and  six 
thousand  missionaries  and  five  times  as  many  native 
workers  with  an  annual  outlay  of  ten  million  dollars. 
Among  those  who  participated  in  the  conference  Mr. 
McLean  saw  and  heard  Sir  George  Williams,  founder 
of  the  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association;  Henry 
Drummond,  whose  book,  Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual 
World ,  published  in  1883,  had  made  him  famous;  J. 
Hudson  Taylor,  founder  of  the  China  Inland  Mission ; 
Gustav  Warneck,  of  the  University  of  Halle,  Ger¬ 
many,  author  of  a  History  of  Protestant  Missions  and 
many  other  important  books;  H.  Grattan  Guinness, 
founder  of  the  Congo  Balolo  mission;  John  Murdoch, 
noted  for  the  Christian  literature  in  the  vernacular 
which  he  prepared  for  India;  Mrs.  Isabella  Bird 
Bishop,  traveler  and  author;  Arthur  T.  Pierson,  the 
eloquent  missionary  advocate;  and  most  of  the  leading 
administrative  officers  of  nearly  all  the  principal  mis¬ 
sionary  societies  of  the  world.  There  were  famous 
converts  like  Bishop  Crowther  of  the  Niger,  eminent 
scholars  like  Professor  William  Garden  Blaikie  of 
Edinburgh,  distinguished  pioneer  missionaries  like 
John  F.  Gulick  of  Japan,  and  devoted  laymen  like  Sir 
Monier  Monier- Williams.  It  seems  impossibly  strange 
now  that  the  missionary  leaders  of  that  generation  in 
America  had  never  met  together  until  they  assembled 
with  their  brethren  of  Great  Britain  and  Europe  in 
this  London  conference. 

The  conference  of  1900  in  New  York  enrolled  twen¬ 
ty-three  hundred  delegates,  reported  fifteen  thousand 
missionaries  and  seventy-three  thousand  native  work- 


WORLD  MISSIONARY  CONFERENCES  295 


ers,  a  million  and  a  third  converts  with  three  million 
more  adherents  and  a  total  annual  expenditure  of  fif¬ 
teen  million  dollars.  There  was  a  unique  situation 
in  the  opening  session  when  a  former  president  of  the 
United  States,  Benjamin  Harrison,  presided,  President 
William  McKinley  gave  one  of  the  addresses  of  wel¬ 
come  and  a  future  president,  Governor  Theodore 
Roosevelt,  put  a  vigorous  missionary  message  into  the 
speech  which  he  made  on  behalf  of  the  state  and  city 
of  New  York.  The  place  of  honor  in  the  conference 
was  given  to  the  veterans  from  the  front:  John  G. 
Paton  of  the  New  Hebrides  Islands,  Cyrus  Hamlin  and 
George  W.  Wood  of  Turkey,  Jacob  Chamberlain  and 
Bishop  Thoburn  of  India,  William  Ashmore  and  J. 
Hudson  Taylor  of  China,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  James  C.  Hep¬ 
burn  of  Japan,  Bishop  Ridley  of  Caledonia,  Robert 
Laws  of  Africa,  and  their  compeers.  Young  men  of 
manifest  promise  and  power,  like  John  R.  Mott  of  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement  and  the  International 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  and  Robert  E.  Speer  of  the  Presbyterian 
Board,  U.  S.  A.,  appeared  in  the  conference.  Tried 
leaders,  such  as  Eugene  Stock  of  the  Church  Mission¬ 
ary  Society,  R.  Wardlaw  Thompson  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society,  Judson  Smith  and  James  L.  Bar¬ 
ton  of  the  American  Board  (Congregational),  F.  F. 
Ellinwood,  Presbyterian;  A.  B.  Leonard,  Methodist 
Episcopal;  II.  C.  Mabie,  Baptist,  and  W.  R.  Lambuth, 
Methodist  Episcopal  South,  with  representative  mis¬ 
sionaries  from  all  the  fields  and  prominent  ministers 
and  laymen  from  all  the  participating  churches,  gave 
the  best  of  their  wisdom  and  prayers  to  solving  to¬ 
gether  the  problems  of  Christ’s  advancing  kingdom. 
Mr.  McLean  served  on  the  general  committee  of  the 
conference  and  did  his  utmost,  both  for  its  imme¬ 
diate  success  and  for  the  extension  of  its  influence, 


296  ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 

both  on  the  mission  fields  and  among  the  home 
churches. 

The  Edinburgh  conference  of  1910  brought  together 
1,196  representatives  of  all  Christian  bodies  except  the 
Greek  and  Roman  Catholic  churches.  Each  of  the  159 
societies  was  allotted  a  definite  quota  proportionate 
to  its  annual  outlay,  and  all  seats  were  filled.  The 
large  number  of  interested  visitors  brought  the  daily 
attendance  up  to  six  thousand.  The  number  of  com¬ 
municants  in  mission  fields  had  now  reached  1,925,205 
with  19,280  missionaries  and  98,388  native  workers 
looking  after  the  further  extension  of  the  kingdom. 
Tiie  whole  number  of  adherents,  including  members, 
was  5,281,871.  The  total  annual  outlay  was  $24,676,- 
580.  New  leaders  in  places  of  responsibility  included 
John  R.  Mott  and  Robert  E.  Speer,  previously  men¬ 
tioned  ;  S.  M.  Zwemer,  since  then  editor  of  The  Moslem 
World ;  George  Sherwood  Eddy,  of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.; 
A.  W.  Halsey,  Presbyterian  secretary;  Charles  R.  Wat¬ 
son,  United  Presbyterian  secretary;  Bishop  Logan  H. 
Roots,  of  China;  and  Bishop  Charles  H.  Brent,  of  the 
Philippines.  Bishop  J.  W.  Bashford,  of  China;  James 
L.  Barton,  of  the  American  Board;  and  George  Rob¬ 
son,  of  the  Lfnited  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland, 
were  among  the  notable  intermediate  group  that  con¬ 
nects  the  older  days  with  the  new.  Bishop  H.  H. 
Montgomery  and  other  men  of  distinction  represented 
the  ancient  English  Society  for  the  Propagation  of 
the  Gospel,  which  had  sent  no  delegates  to  the  pre¬ 
vious  conferences.  Among  the  few  who  shared  with 
Archibald  McLean  the  honor  of  having  been  delegates 
to  all  three  of  the  world  conferences  were  Eugene 
Stock  and  R.  Wardlaw  Thompson.  Men  of  interna¬ 
tional  fame  in  business,  education,  literature,  state¬ 
craft  and  religion  sat  as  ordinary  delegates.  The  con¬ 
ference  was  not  so  much  an  exchange  of  enthusiams 


FRATERNAL  SPIRIT  PREVALENT  297 


as  i  ‘  an  international  school  of  mission  study  and  coun¬ 
sel  ’ 9  looking  toward  the  complete  winning  of  the  world 
to  Christ,  and  yet  it  never  lost  its  soul  in  the  consid¬ 
eration  of  mere  methods.  The  fundamental  princi¬ 
ples  of  Christian  life  and  service  held  every  session  to 
a  high  plane. 

As  the  first  century  of  modern  missions  came  to  its 
close  and  various  societies  and  churches  began  to  plan 
their  centennial  celebrations,  Mr.  McLean  and  many 
others  felt  the  need  of  more  constant  and  intimate 
meetings  and  cooperation.  This  conviction  led  to  the 
organization  in  1893  of  the  Foreign  Missions  Confer¬ 
ence  of  North  America  to  meet  annually.  He  attended 
the  first  meeting  and  as  many  as  possible  thereafter. 
When,  in  1911,  the  constitution  was  adopted  provid¬ 
ing  for  the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  to 
act  on  matters  which  arise  between  sessions,  Mr.  Mc¬ 
Lean  was  among  those  first  chosen  to  serve.  He  was 
reelected  the  one  time  permitted  by  the  constitution. 
After  an  interval  he  was  elected  again,  but  died  before 
he  had  completed  his  sixth  year  of  service. 

Henry  Martyn,  hero  of  the  Church  of  England, 
drew  his  chief  human  inspiration  from  the  noncon¬ 
formist  American  missionary,  David  Brainerd,  and  no 
one  worked  harder  for  Dr.  A.  L.  Shelton’s  liberation 
from  Chinese  bandits  in  the  winter  of  1920,  than 
Claude  Bailly,  a  French  Catholic  missionary.  This 
brotherliness  has  prevailed  throughout  the  period  of 
modern  missions.  Fraternal  associations  in  India, 
China  and  other  mission  lands  preceded  both  the  occa¬ 
sional  and  the  regular  conferences  at  home.  In  the 
same  way  the  success  of  the  missionaries  in  uniting 
to  maintain  schools,  printing  establishments  and  other 
joint  activities  was  eventually  emulated  at  home  in 
such  union  enterprises  as  the  Missionary  Education 
Movement.  In  all  of  these  cooperative  undertakings, 


298 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


at  home  and  abroad,  Mr.  McLean  assisted  with  eager 
and  efficient  helpfulness,  both  by  his  counsel  in  pro¬ 
jecting  their  organization  and  plans  and  by  his  in¬ 
fluence  in  leading  the  Disciples  to  give  them  full  and 
hearty  support.  In  the  case  of  Nanking  University, 
referred  to  above,  he  was  one  of  the  prime  movers  at 
home,  as  his  friend  F.  E.  Meigs  was  in  China. 

The  variety  and  extent  of  this  cooperation  on  the 
field  is  only  partially  indicated  by  the  following  list 
from  the  published  report  of  the  United  Christian 
Missionary  Society  for  1922.  (A  few  verbal  correc¬ 
tions  have  been  made  and  one  omission  supplied.) 

Translation  of  the  New  Testament  in  the  Lonkundo  tongue, 
Africa. 

Union  Mission  House  (and  shipping  agency),  Africa. 

Union  steamer  shop,  Africa. 

Joint  industrial  educational  survey  of  Central  Africa. 

United  Congo  Conference. 

Joint  Christian  literature  publication,  Congo. 

Training  School  for  Women,  Argentina. 

Union  Seminary,  Argentina. 

Colegio  Americano  y  Institute  Comercial  Ward,  Argentina. 

Union  Bible  Seminary,  Montevideo,  South  America.  (In 
prospect.) 

Union  Evangelical  Seminary,  Porto  Rico. 

Puerto  Rico  Evangelico  (Newspaper),  Porto  Rico. 

Mission  Press,  Mexico  City. 

Theological  Seminary,  Mexico  City. 

School  for  Missionaries’  Children,  India. 

Union  High  School  for  Girls,  India. 

Union  Bible  Training  School,  Manila,  P.  I. 

Union  Christian  High  School,  Manila,  P.  I. 

Woman’s  Christian  College  of  Japan,  Tokyo. 

Christian  Orphanage,  Sendai,  Japan. 

Christian  Literature  Society,  Japan. 

School  for  Missionaries’  Children,  Japan. 

University  of  Nanking,  China. 

Nanking  Theological  Seminary,  China. 

Bible  Teachers’  Training  School  for  Women,  Nanking, 
China. 


UNION  ENTERPRISES 


299 


University  of  Nanking  Union  Hospital,  China. 

Ginling  College  (for  women),  Nanking,  China. 

Shanghai  American  School  (for  missionaries’  children). 

Wuhu  Academy. 

Joint  Tibetan  literature  publication. 

The  National  Christian  Council  (of  China). 

There  have  been  three  eras  in  each  society  and  in 
the  missionary  movement  as  a  whole.  In  the  first  the 
missionary  abroad  and  his  friend  at  home  bore  for 
Christ’s  sake  the  reproach  of  being  fanatics;  in  the 
second  the  work  of  missions  was  recognized  as  a  neces¬ 
sary  but  secondary  part  of  the  church’s  task;  in  the 
third  we  are  beginning  to  see  that  Christianity  is  es¬ 
sentially,  necessarily  and  predominantly  missionary. 
Only  the  courage  and  ability  of  such  men  as  Andrew 
Fuller  in  England  and  Samuel  John  Mills  in  America 
supported  the  forlorn  hope  of  the  missionaries  during 
the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Then  came 
secretaries  like  Rufus  Anderson  here  and  Henry  Venn 
there  to  put  the  cause  on  a  permanent  footing  both 
at  home  and  abroad.  Venn’s  masterly  advocacy  won 
to  the  Church  Missionary  Society  the  recognition  and 
support  of  the  Church  of  England.  At  the  same  time 
he  led  the  society  to  enunciate  its  policy  of  faith :  that 
it  would  send  to  the  front  every  clearly  called  and 
qualified  candidate  regardless  of  the  state  of  its  treas¬ 
ury.  It  is  worth  remarking  in  passing  that  it  has 
languished  or  flourished  as  it  has  forgotten  or  adhered 
to  this  policy,  which  is  the  logical  converse  of  the  so¬ 
ciety’s  motto,  tacit  or  explicit  from  the  date  of  its  or¬ 
ganization:  “Spiritual  men  for  spiritual  work.”  In 
1855  Rufus  Anderson  signalized  the  advance  from  the 
old  idea  of  “plucking  a  few  brands  from  the  burning,” 
by  declaring  for  “a  self-supporting,  self-governing 
and  self-propagating  church  ’  ’  on  each  mission  field. 


300 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 

The  present  era  began  with  the  twentieth  century. 
It  proposes  nothing  less  than  that  “the  whole  church 
must  give  the  whole  gospel  to  the  whole  world.  ’  *  This 
conception  of  missions  differs  from  that  which  pre¬ 
vailed  before,  much  as  the  World  War  differed  from 
previous  wars.  “Then,”  it  has  been  said,  “armies 
went  to  war,  now  nations  wage  war.”  It  was  for 
just  this  sort  of  unanimous  effort  that  McLean  pleaded 
from  1882  to  1920.  How  his  heart  rejoiced  when  the 
United  Presbyterians  moved  forward  as  if  to  relieve 
the  Moravians  of  their  loneliness  in  living  by  such 
principles.  What  eager  expectations  filled  his  soul 
when  J.  Campbell  White  and  the  Laymen’s  Mission¬ 
ary  Movement  sought  to  give  these  principles  prac¬ 
tical  expression  through  the  every-member  canvass 
and  weekly  contributions  for  missions,  instead  of  an¬ 
nual  collections.  How  steadfastly  he  supported  A.  E. 
Cory  and  his  associates  as  they  sought,  through  the 
Million  Dollar  Campaign  and  the  Men  and  Millions 
Movement,  to  bring  the  contributions  of  the  Disciples, 
both  in  money  and  in  life,  up  to  an  adequate  measure. 
And  how  passionately  he  threw  himself  into  the  Inter¬ 
church  World  Movement  of  thirty  American  religious 
bodies ! 

Following  the  war  there  was  a  widespread  feeling 
that  the  unity  which  had  been  attained  while  the 
war  was  in  progress  must  not  be  lost,  and  especially 
that  the  Protestant  churches  that  had  cooperated 
Avholeheartedly  and  unselfishly  in  every  form  of  na¬ 
tional  and  humanitarian  service,  should  not  relapse  in¬ 
to  their  pre-war  disconnected  and  competitive  pro¬ 
grams.  There  was  an  overwhelming  conviction  with 
many  leaders  in  all  the  churches  that  the  church  of 
Christ  must  take  the  lead  both  in  repairing  the  moral 
and  spiritual  injuries  of  the  Avar  and  in  reconstructing 
the  world  on  a  Avar-preventing  basis.  The  war  had 


INTERCHURCH  WORLD  MOVEMENT  301 

brought  a  humiliating  realization  of  the  incomplete 
Christianity  of  Christendom  and  a  general  conviction 
that  the  evangelization  of  the  non-Christian  lands  was 
not  only  the  paramount  duty  of  the  church  but  an  im¬ 
mediate  necessity.  Before  these  two  tasks  of  Christian 
reconstruction  and  world-wide  Christianization  it  was 
felt  that  the  program  of  the  churches  for  missions, 
benevolence  and  education  must  be  not  only  unified 
and  coordinated  but  vastly  enlarged. 

An  informal  conference  held  shortly  after  the  armis¬ 
tice  was  signed  showed  how  general  and  uniform  these 
convictions  were  in  the  minds  of  outstanding  repre¬ 
sentatives  of  all  the  churches.  This  group  called  a 
larger  and  more  thoroughly  representative  meeting 
which  formed  a  tentative  organization  and  launched 
the  Intercliurch  World  Movement.  Its  purpose  was  to 
make  a  thorough  survey  of  the  fields  at  home  and 
abroad  and  the  total  immediate  task  of  the  whole 
church  in  missions,  benevolence  and  education,  and  to 
conduct  a  united  canvass  not  only  of  church  members 
but  of  all  interested  citizens  for  sufficient  funds  to  meet 
the  necessities  of  the  hour. 

The  project  made  a  twofold  appeal  to  Mr.  McLean 
because  the  twofold  passion  of  his  life  was  expressed 
in  the  Savior ’s  prayer,  “that  they  may  all  be  one,  that 
the  world  may  believe.”  It  was  a  Christian  union 
enterprise  and  it  was  a  missionary  enterprise.  The 
Disciples  of  Christ  in  general  felt  much  as  Mr.  McLean 
did  and  took  a  vigorous  part  in  every  step  of  the 
movement’s  development  and  progress. 

Like  his  brethren  again,  he  was  keenly  disappointed 
when  the  Atlantic  City  conference  of  some  seventeen 
hundred  representatives  from  forty-two  communions 
in  January,  1920,  determined  to  prosecute  the  canvass 
for  funds  on  denominational  lines  and  not  as  a  united 
enterprise,  such  as  the  united  war-work  campaign  of 


302 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


the  previous  year,  whose  aims  a  willing  people  had 
oversubscribed.  In  spite  of  this  disappointment  he 
felt  that  the  movement  would  prove  a  blessing,  and 
he  threw  the  whole  weight  of  his  influence,  time  and 
strength  into  the  undertaking. 

One  of  the  chief  steps  in  the  development  of  the 
Interchurch  Movement  was  a  series  of  preparatory 
conferences  of  workers.  Teams  made  up  of  experts 
from  the  different  participating  boards  conducted 
these  conferences,  each  of  which  lasted  three  days. 
Mr.  McLean  spoke  in  the  conferences  at  Topeka,  Lin¬ 
coln,  Des  Moines,  Sioux  Falls,  Minneapolis  and  Fargo, 
between  December  1  and  19,  1919.  Iiis  subject  was 
foreign  missions  and  he  spoke  with  his  usual  power. 
He  put  more  stress  upon  Christian  union  as  a  neces¬ 
sity  in  foreign  missions  than  some  of  the  ministers 
present  were  willing  to  endorse.  In  speaking  to  his  own 
brethren  he  had  never  taken  pains  to  say  the  popular 
thing;  no  more  would  he  compromise  the  truth  to 
please  men  of  other  communions.  Mr.  Burnham  was 
the  leader  of  this  team.  The  other  members  were: 
Mrs.  Anna  R.  Atwater,  president  of  the  Christian 
Woman’s  Board  of  Missions,  Indianapolis;  C.  H. 
Ward,  president  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  college 
in  Kansas  City ;  W.  S.  Abernethy,  of  the  First  Baptist 
Church,  Kansas  City,  now  President  Harding’s  pastor 
in  Washington  City ;  Dr.  Powell,  an  Episcopal  minister 
of  New  York;  W.  A.  Brown  of  the  International  Sun¬ 
day  School  Association,  Chicago. 

Leading  the  opening  devotional  service  in  one  of  the 
conferences  Mr.  McLean  began,  as  his  habit  was,  in  a 
low  tone  of  voice.  Immediately  some  one  on  a  back 
seat  shouted  4 ‘Louder!”  Mr.  McLean  looked  up 
quickly  from  his  pocket  Testament  and  inquired, 
“Who  said  ‘louder’?”  The  man  who  had  shouted 
raised  his  hand.  Mr.  McLean  quietly  walked  back, 


PREPARATORY  CONFERENCES  303 

took  him  by  the  arm  and  led  him  up  to  a  front  seat. 
Then  he  resumed  his  reading  as  before. 

Mrs.  Atwater  was  the  only  woman  on  the  team  and 
Mr.  McLean  was  especially  thoughtful  of  her.  He 
always  insisted  on  carrying  her  suitcase,  though  he 
had  a  heavy  one  of  his  own.  After  vainly  remonstrat¬ 
ing  with  him  one  day,  she  said  she  supposed  he  fol¬ 
lowed  the  generally  accepted  notion  that  one  balanced 
the  other.  With  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  he  said,  “There 
never  was  a  prettier  fiction.”  Her  subject  was 
stewardship.  Repeatedly  after  the  sessions  in  which 
she  had  spoken,  he  would  go  to  her  and  taking  her 
hand  in  both  of  his  in  his  earnest  way  would  declare, 
“Yours  is  the  best  message  of  the  conference. ’ 9 

These  conferences  were  under  the  general  direction 
of  A.  E.  Cory,  as  the  head  of  the  field  department  of 
the  Interchurch  Movement.  After  ten  years  as  a  mis¬ 
sionary  in  China  he  had  been  the  leader  of  both  the 
Million  Dollar  Campaign  of  the  Foreign  Christian 
Missionary  Society  and  of  the  Men  and  Millions  Move¬ 
ment.  Earlv  in  the  series  of  Interchurch  conferences 
Mr.  McLean  wrote  him  the  following  personal  note : 

December  6,  1919. 

Dear  Dean  :* 

We  have  had  two  great  conferences,  far  greater  than  I  had 
expected,  one  in  Topeka  and  one  in  Lincoln.  The  attendance 
was  large,  the  interest  fine  and  the  men  remained  with  us  the 
three  full  days.  The  attendance  and  loyalty  helped  mightily. 
Their  interest  and  loyalty  showed  they  are  getting  something 
worth  while.  The  team  is  a  strong  one.  F.  W.  B.  is  an 
admirable  leader.  When  he  has  to  go  forward  Dr.  Ward 
takes  his  place  as  leader  and  he  does  very  well.  Mrs.  Atwater 
is  on  our  team  and  she  has  made  a  great  impression.  Her  dis¬ 
cussion  of  stewardship  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and 
profitable  parts  of  the  entire  program  of  the  three  days. 

•The  title  is  reminiscent  of  Mr.  Cory’s  leadership  in  establishing  and 
conducting  the  Bible  College  at  Nanking,  which  was  later  merged  in 
the  union  Nanking  School  of  Theology. 


304 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


We  are  all  in  the  best  of  health  and  spirits.  We  are  having 
a  glorious  time.  I  am  grateful  for  the  privilege  of  serving 
on  the  team. 

This  afternoon  we  go  on  to  Des  Moines.  The  coal  situation 
affects  the  conferences.  But  they  are  great  in  spite  of  the  coal 
shortage.  I  trust  it  is  well  with  you  and  yours. 

Affectionately, 

A.  McLean. 

In  the  canvass  which  was  made  in  the  spring  of 
1920  the  denominations  that  were  most  thoroughly 
organized  attained  their  goals,  but  the  movement  itself 
realized  only  about  three  million  dollars  for  the  com¬ 
mon  fund  to  pay  its  expenses  to  the  amount  of  nine 
million  dollars.  New  York  banks  had  loaned  this 
money  on  underwritings  supplied  by  the  participating 
boards  of  the  various  churches.  The  failure  to  secure 
this  general  fund  threw  back  upon  the  boards  the 
altogether  unexpected  necessity  of  paying  the  whole 
of  their  underwritings,  totaling  six  million  dollars. 

This  was  an  especially  grievous  blow  to  the  Disciples 
of  Christ,  whose  boards  had  underwritten  $626,532.55. 
The  short  time  that  had  elapsed  since  the  Men  and 
Millions  Movement  and  the  limited  period  for  prepara¬ 
tion  for  the  Interchurch  canvass,  together  with  the 
opposition  to  the  entire  movement  in  many  congrega¬ 
tions,  limited  the  results.  Many  of  the  churches  in  all 
parts  of  the  country  and  most  of  those  in  certain 
limited  and  intensively  organized  areas  secured  splen¬ 
did  amounts,  but  the  collapse  of  the  general  campaign 
prevented  other  congregations  following  their  example 
and  even  interfered  with  the  payment  of  many  of  the 
pledges  made.  The  boards  not  only  had  to  pay  the 
underwritings,  but  most  of  them  lacked  the  funds  with 
which  to  pay.  Of  course  Mr.  McLean  insisted  that  the 
obligations  must  be  met  promptly  and  fully.  The 
Foreign  Society  went  to  the  bank  and  borrowed 


INTERCHURCH  UNDERWRITINGS  305 


enough  to  make  the  payments  as  they  were  called.  The 
Board  of  Education,  which  had  underwritten  $300,000, 
being  without  funds,  and  the  funds  of  all  the  boards 
being  held  strictly  for  other  purposes,  it  became  neces¬ 
sary  to  call  for  special  subscriptions  to  pay  the  total 
underwritings.  This  was  ordered  by  the  St.  Louis 
convention. 

The  special  committee  sent  out  the  call  for  this 
money  as  a  request  for  one  day’s  income  from  every 
member  of  every  church.  Mr.  McLean  felt  the  neces¬ 
sity  for  meeting  the  obligations  so  keenly  that  he  not 
only  used  every  effort  to  enlist  others  but  personally 
turned  in,  as  one  of  his  last  acts  before  he  went  to 
Battle  Creek,  his  entire  month’s  salary.  The  period 
of  the  call  was  set  for  December  5  to  12,  1920.  He 
never  heard  the  disappointing  news  that  only  a  little 
more  than  ten  per  cent  of  the  amount  needed  was 
realized.  However,  in  the  spring  of  1921  a  thorough¬ 
going  campaign  secured  the  attention  and  the  coopera¬ 
tion  of  the  churches  so  fully  that  churches  and  indi¬ 
viduals  gave  the  entire  amount  needed,  not  only  to  pay 
the  obligation  at  the  banks,  but  also  to  repay  the  par¬ 
ticipating  boards  most  of  what  they  had  advanced  on 
their  underwritings  obligations. 

Mr.  McLean  felt  much  regret  but  no  remorse  over 
the  financial  failure  of  the  Interchurch  Movement.  He 
considered  the  results  obtained  in  other  objectives  of 
the  movement:  as  in  its  surveys  of  the  needs  in  mis¬ 
sions,  education  and  benevolence  at  home  and  abroad; 
in  the  widespread  publicity  given  to  world-wide  condi¬ 
tions  and  to  the  gospel  as  the  only  means  of  setting 
them  right ;  in  the  remarkable  fellowship  of  the  minis¬ 
terial  conferences;  in  the  large  measure  of  unity  dis¬ 
covered  in  city,  state  and  nation;  and  in  the  demon¬ 
strated  futility  and  sin  of  clenominationalism,  fully 
justified  all  the  expenditure  of  time  and  money.  He 


306 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


was  proud  of  the  part  taken  in  the  effort  by  members 
of  his  own  communion  both  in  places  of  leadership  and 
in  rank-and-file  support.  He  was  confident  that  some 
day  the  dream  of  the  Interchurch  World  Movement 
would  come  true — such  ideas  never  die — and  that  in 
the  meantime  we  were  all  better  Christians  for  having 
seen  the  vision  and  for  having  sought  to  realize  it. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 


UNITED  CHRISTIAN  MISSIONARY  SOCIETY 

INITIAL  CORRESPONDENCE — NEED  OF  UNIFICATION - PRELIMINARY  STEPS 

IN  UNION — PROPOSAL  TO  CONVENTION  IN  1917 — AGREEMENT  ADOPTED  IN  1919 
— LETTER  TO  BURNHAM  REGARDING  PRESIDENCY — HEADQUARTERS — REMOVAL 
TO  ST.  LOUIS — HOME  AND  CHURCH — HIS  LAST  CANADIAN  CONVENTION. 

rPHE  American  Christian  Missionary  Society,  organ- 

ized  in  1849  with  Alexander  Campbell  as  its  presi¬ 
dent,  was  intended  to  carry  the  gospel  into  both  home 
and  foreign  fields.  In  practice,  however,  it  came  to  be 
exclusively  a  home  missionary  society.  This  led  to  the 
organization  of  the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  So¬ 
ciety  to  cultivate  the  fields  abroad.  Of  course  the  two 
societies  represented  the  same  constituency.  All  the 
while  there  were  many  who  felt  that  the  task  was  one 
and  inseparable.  As  early  as  1910  such  persons  began 
to  contemplate  union  seriously  and  to  feel  that  it 
should  include  the  Christian  Woman’s  Board  of  Mis¬ 
sions  as  well  as  the  home  and  foreign  societies.  That 
thought  took  definite  shape  in  a  conversation  between 
the  presidents  of  the  Christian  Woman’s  Board  of 
Missions  and  the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Soci¬ 
ety,  of  which  the  former,  Mrs.  Anna  R.  Atwater,  gives 
the  following  account : 

In  September,  1912,  Mr.  McLean  was  in  my  office  at  In¬ 
dianapolis.  We  had  a  long  talk  about  the  work  of  our  soci¬ 
eties  and  the  relationships  between  them.  He  remarked  that 
our  societies  ought  to  be  one.  I  replied  that  it  was  impos¬ 
sible,  because  the  Christian  Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  had 
been  born  independent  and  through  the  years  our  organiza- 


307 


308 


ARCHIBALD  MoLEAN 


tion  had  been  self-determining,  and  that  we  could  not  be¬ 
come  auxiliary  to  another  board  to  be  directed  by  it.  With 
characteristic  promptness  and  brevity,  he  said:  “You  ought 
not  to  be.  You  do  not  need  to  be.  We  must  have  a  society 
with  equal  representation  of  men  and  women  in  its  conduct 
and  management. 1  ’  I  expressed  doubt  that  such  a  thing 
could  be,  but  he  insisted  that  this  was  right,  and  if  right, 
it  certainly  could  be.  The  following  week  this  letter  came 
from  him,  and  was  answered  as  below : 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  October  1,  1912. 

Dear  Sister  Atwater : 

When  the  rush  is  over  please  read  the  article  in  the  latest 
issue  of  the  International  Review  of  Missions,  by  Miss  Gol- 
lock  on  “Woman’s  Share  in  the  Administration  of  Missions/’ 
You  said  the  same  thing  in  our  conference  a  week  ago.  I 
have  been  saying  that  for  several  years.  It  was  a  mistake  to 
divide  the  work  on  sex  lines ;  the  societies  and  boards  will  not 
do  their  best  work  for  the  kingdom  till  that  mistake  is  cor¬ 
rected.  At  least  that  is  my  firm  conviction.  There  may  be 
legal  obstacles  in  the  way  of  bringing  this  about  now;  but  I 
believe  these  and  all  other  obstacles  will  be  overcome  sooner 
or  later.  I  may  never  see  it,  but  others  will.  I  venture  to 
make  this  prediction. 

Very  truly  yours, 

A.  McLean. 


Indianapolis,  Indiana,  October  7,  1912. 
Dear  Brother  McLean: 

I  thank  you  for  calling  my  attention  to  the  article  on 
‘  ‘  Woman  \s  Share  in  the  Administration  of  Missions.  ’  *  I  have 
read  it  with  keenest  interest.  It  meets  my  approval  almost 
wholly.  I  believe  if  some  of  us  should  really  get  in  earnest 
about  this  matter  that  legal  difficulties  could  be  removed.  I 
realize  that  we  must  move  slowly  in  our  plans  of  cooperation 
so  that  we  may  not  become  separated  from  the  large  major¬ 
ity  of  the  constituency  of  the  various  boards.  But  some 
time,  I  do  believe  the  work  of  extending  the  kingdom  will 
be  a  joint  work  for  all  the  forces  of  our  people.  We  ought 
to  make  it  a  matter  of  careful  study  and  investigation. 

Sincerely  yours, 


Anna  R.  Atwater. 


INITIAL  CORRESPONDENCE 


309 


If  there  had  been  only  these  three  organizations  in 
the  held,  the  union  might  have  been  delayed  indehnite- 
ly,  but  following  them  had  come  in  succession  the  Na¬ 
tional  Benevolent  Association  of  the  Christian  Church, 
the  Board  of  Church  Extension  of  the  American  Chris¬ 
tian  Missionary  Society,  the  Board  of  Ministerial  Re¬ 
lief  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  the  Board  of  Education 
of  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  the  Association  for  the 
Promotion  of  Christian  Unity,  and  the  Board  of  Tem¬ 
perance  and  Social  Welfare.  For  a  time  there  was 
also  the  National  Board  of  Christian  Endeavor  of  the 
Disciples  of  Christ.  In  addition  to  these  national  or¬ 
ganizations  each  state  and  province  had  its  missionary 
society  and  the  larger  cities  their  local  cooperations. 
Each  of  these  had  sprung  up  in  answer  to  an  obvious 
need  that  no  existing  organization  was  meeting.  Many 
felt  that  the  process  of  specialization  had  gone  far 
enough ;  that  indeed  it  should  be  reversed.  There  were 
at  least  eight  annual  appeals  to  the  churches  for  offer¬ 
ings,  four  appeals  to  the  Sunday  schools  and  three  or 
four  to  the  Christian  Endeavor  societies.  This  meant 
that  some  church  members,  in  addition  to  weekly  con¬ 
tributions  to  the  local  church,  the  Sunday  school  and 
the  Christian  Endeavor  society,  and  monthly  dues  to 
the  woman’s  missionary  society  and  ladies’  aid 
society,  might  have  sixteen  chances  a  year  to  contribute 
to  general  causes,  even  if  the  Anti-Saloon  League,  the 
Red  Cross  and  other  interdenominational  and  unde¬ 
nominational  bodies  neglected  them.  Giving  to  all 
these  causes  would  have  been  a  wholesome  means  of 
grace,  but  learning  about  all  of  them  so  as  /to  give 
intelligently  was  too  much  of  an  undertaking  for  the 
average  individual. 

While  the  need  of  unification  was  thus  becoming 
manifest  among  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  as  also  in 
other  religious  bodies,  practical  steps  toward  unity 


310 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


were  being1  taken.  First  came  the  united  Centennial 
campaign,  then  the  calendar  committee,  the  com¬ 
mittee  on  unification,  the  National  and  State  Secre¬ 
taries  1  Association,  the  International  Convention,  the 
Men  and  Millions  Movement,  the  joint  apportionment 
(a  suggestion  to  each  congregation  of  the  amount  it 
should  give  to  each  of  the  agencies),  and  finally  the 
united  magazine,  World  Call ,  taking  the  place  of  the 
five  magazines  previously  published  by  national 
boards,  and  giving  a  voice  to  those  that  had  been  with¬ 
out  an  organ. 

This  uniting  of  the  five  magazines  was  an  important 
event  in  Mr.  McLean’s  life.  He  had  put  a  vast  amount 
of  time  and  energy  into  building  up  the  Missionary 
Intelligencer .  He  appreciated  its  vital  service  to  the 
Foreign  Society  and  to  the  cause  of  missions  in 
general.  He  took  great  pride  in  it  as  a  publication. 
He  was  naturally  conservative  and  slow  to  venture 
upon  experiments,  but  with  his  customary  faithfulness 
and  constructive  ability  he  served  on  the  committee 
that  formulated  the  plans  finally  adopted  for  the  joint 
magazine,  the  fifth  committee  that  had  wrestled  with 
the  problems  involved.  When  the  boards  had  deter¬ 
mined  finally  upon  the  uniting  of  the  magazines,  look¬ 
ing  back  over  the  thirty-one  volumes  of  the  Missionary 
Intelligencer ,  he  said,  “I  shall  wear  crepe  on  my  heart 
for  many  a  day  for  the  Missionary  Intelligencer.” 
And  then  he  entered  with  unbounded  interest  and  even 
enthusiasm  into  every  effort  looking  toward  the  success 
of  World  Call .  With  the  first  number  of  the  new 
magazine,  larger  both  in  page  size  and  in  number  of 
pages  than  its  predecessors,  of  a  higher  mechanical 
excellence  both  in  paper  and  profuseness  of  illustra¬ 
tions,  comprehensive  in  the  complete  unifying  of  its 
contents  and  in  its  full  presentation  of  the  whole  task 
of  the  whole  church  in  the  whole  world,  Mr.  McLean 


PRELIMINARY  STEPS  IN  UNION 


311 


was  greatly  delighted.  Each  succeeding  issue  he  gen¬ 
erously  pronounced  better  than  the  previous  number, 
and  always  he  insisted  that  the  standard  should  never 
be  lowered  in  any  regard.  He  was  always  ready  both 
with  counsel  and  with  contributions,  not  only  to  main¬ 
tain  the  character  of  the  magazine,  but  to  improve  it 
from  month  to  month,  and  to  make  it  not  merely  a 
publication  which  the  societies  wished  to  have  read  but 
one  which  the  people  would  be  eager  to  read. 

Of  course  Mr.  McLean  understood  that  all  these 
things  were  hastening  the  union  of  the  societies  and  his 
heart  rejoiced  in  the  prospect.  At  the  same  time  he 
was  torn  with  regrets  for  the  passing  of  the  old  order 
into  which  he  had  poured  all  the  abundance  of  his  life 
energies.  It  would  scarcely  be  possible  to  imagine  a 
more  complete  demonstration  of  utter  unselfishness 
than  the  leading  of  his  fellow  officers  in  the  presenta¬ 
tion  of  the  following  statement  and  recommendations 
to  the  international  convention  at  Kansas  City  in  1917. 

The  years  immediately  before  us  are  to  test  the  church  and 
will  prove  whether  or  not  it  can  meet  the  needs  of  a  tired  and 
sinful  world.  A  divided  church  cannot  do  it.  There  is  to 
be  such  a  demand  for  a  united  church  with  a  divine  program 
for  suffering  men  and  women  that  no  Christian  dare  ignore 
it.  The  Disciples  of  Christ  would  render  an  invaluable  serv¬ 
ice  by  giving  demonstration  to  the  Christian  world  of  the 
practicability  of  their  program  in  further  unifying  their  own 
forces. 

During  these  momentous  years  the  Disciples  of  Christ  will 
be  weighed  in  the  balance.  If  we  are  to  be  a  united  peo¬ 
ple,  it  can  only  be  through  a  tremendous  common  task,  in  the 
doing  of  which  we  shall  forget  everything  else.  The  taking 
of  the  gospel  to  the  waiting  people  of  the  earth  presents  the 
necessity  for  our  own  unification. 

The  Christian  Woman’s  Board  of  Missions  and  the  Foreign 
Christian  Missionary  Society  have  been  drawn  together  in 
facing  stupendous  tasks  across  the  earth,  which  neither  could 
undertake  alone.  Their  first  missionaries,  a  company  of  eight, 


312 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 

were  sent  out  jointly  to  India.  There  has  been  cooperation 
in  the  field  for  thirty-five  years,  and  in  recent  years  there  has 
been  one  advisory  committee  on  the  field,  one  treasurer,  and 
one  annual  convention  in  India. 

Nearly  a  year  ago  the  two  societies  adopted  a  plan  by 
which  they  are  to  work  together  jointly  in  the  great  field  of 
Nantungchow,  China.  This  plan  contemplates  union  direc¬ 
tion  of  the  work  by  committees  here  in  America,  as  well  as 
on  the  field.  A  few  months  ago  practically  the  same  plan  was 
indorsed  for  the  whole  field  of  Africa,  by  which  the  societies 
will  share  equally  in  the  work  there.  More  and  more  this 
cooperation  has  proven  a  joy  to  the  missionaries  on  the  field 
and  a  source  of  satisfaction  to  the  boards  and  constituency 
at  home. 

Not  only  has  this  cooperation  between  the  Christian  Wom¬ 
an’s  Board  of  Missions  and  the  Foreign  Society  been  found 
necessary,  but  like  problems  of  cooperation  and  administra¬ 
tion  are  constantly  arising  in  the  home  field;  furthermore 
the  boards  are  finding  that  the  whole  task  of  missionary  pro¬ 
motion  demands  cooperation. 

We  propose,  therefore,  that  a  joint  committee  consisting 
of  representatives  of  the  Christian  Woman’s  Board  of  Mis¬ 
sions,  the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society  and  the 
American  Christian  Missionary  Society  be  constituted  by  the 
respective  boards,  which  committee  shall  unitedly  plan  for 
and  advise  the  said  boards  in  their  promotional  missionary 
work,  and  as  far  as  possible  shall  also  supervise  and  unify 
the  administration  of  the  mission  work  in  those  fields  which 
are  common  to  two  or  more  of  these  societies. 

We  propose  also  that  this  joint  committee,  following  the 
leading  of  the  Spirit  and  the  lessons  of  experience,  submit 
plans  to  the  respective  boards  and  their  constituencies  in  an¬ 
nual  convention  which  shall  look  toward  the  complete  unifica¬ 
tion  of  our  home  and  foreign  missionary  work.  In  harmony 
with  the  trend  of  present  day  thought  and  action,  and  in 
view  of  the  success  which  has  attended  the  labors  of  our 
women,  both  in  missionary  administration  and  in  service,  we 
would  suggest  that  whatever  unified  organization  may  in  the 
future  result,  include  equal  representation  of  men  and 
women. 

Such  unification  of  our  home  and  foreign  work,  if  accom¬ 
plished,  will  thrill  our  churches,  bring  new  life  to  our  mis- 


UNION  PROPOSAL  AND  AGREEMENT  313 


sionaries,  reduce  the  number  of  our  problems  at  home  and 
abroad,  increase  our  receipts  and  add  to  our  efficiency. 

The  managing  boards  of  the  three  societies  passed 
these  recommendations  heartily  and  then  the  conven¬ 
tion  unanimously  approved  them.  In  the  meetings  of 
the  joint  committee  on  unification  appointed  by  the 
Kansas  City  convention,  Mr.  McLean  took  the  liveliest 
sort  of  interest.  He  was  a  member  of  the  small  sub¬ 
committee  on  constitution  and  organization  and  in  that 
capacity  wrote  a  large  part  of  the  constitution  of  the 
United  Christian  Missionary  Society.  Soon  after  the 
committee  was  constituted  the  Board  of  Ministerial 
Relief  asked  to  be  included.  While  the  committee  did 
not  have  authority  between  conventions  to  grant  this 
request,  it  asked  a  representative  of  that  board  to  sit 
with  it,  and  subsequently  invited  the  National  Benevo¬ 
lent  Association  also  to  send  a  representative  to  the 
meetings  of  the  committee.  When  the  committee  re¬ 
ported  and  presented  the  constitution  of  the  United 
Society,  it  included  these  two  boards  with  the  four  that 
the  action  of  the  Kansas  City  convention  had  covered. 

Just  as  the  convention  of  1918  was  assembling  in  St. 
Louis,  the  health  officers  of  the  city  issued  an  order 
forbidding  all  public  assemblies,  on  account  of  the 
influenza  epidemic.  This  left  over  to  the  Cincinnati 
convention  of  1919  the  final  adoption  of  the  agreement 
among  the  five  boards,  the  Board  of  Church  Extension 
being  included  with  the  American  Christian  Mission¬ 
ary  Society,  to  form  the  United  Christian  Missionary 
Society  and  to  turn  over  to  it  as  fully  and  as  promptly 
as  possible  all  their  functions  and  property,  while  still 
maintaining  the  legal  existence  of  the  old  boards  to 
handle  their  permanent  funds  and  accept  such  bequests 
and  other  trusts  as  might  be  coming  to  them  from 
time  to  time. 

On  account  of  the  recognized  leadership  of  Mr. 


314 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


McLean  in  developing  the  missionary  conscience  of  the 
Disciples  of  Christ,  the  natural  first  impulse  of  the 
convention  was  to  make  him  president  of  the  new 
organization.  The  nominating  committee  fully  shared 
this  feeling  and  told  the  convention  so.  Sober  second 
thought,  however,  recognized  the  wisdom  of  placing 
at  the  head  of  the  new  organization  a  younger  man, 
although  Mr.  McLean  seemed  to  be  in  the  full  vigor  not 
only  of  physical  and  mental  strength  but  of  spirit, 
vision  and  enterprise.  They  were  not  conferring  an 
honor  so  much  as  assigning  a  most  laborious  and 
exacting  task.  The  nominating  committee  named 
Frederick  W.  Burnham,  for  six  years  president  of  the 
American  Christian  Missionary  Society,  president; 
Archibald  McLean,  first  vice-president;  Mrs.  Anna  R. 
Atwater,  for  twelve  years  president  of  the  Christian 
Woman’s  Board  of  Missions,  second  vice-president. 
When  the  committee  presented  its  report  Mr.  McLean 
made  an  earnest  plea  that  the  convention  reverse  the 
order  of  vice-presidents  in  the  interest  of  the  principle 
of  equality  between  men  and  women  in  the  organiza¬ 
tion.  Mrs.  Atwater  insisted  as  strongly  that  the  com¬ 
mittee  ’s  recommendation  should  stand,  and  the  conven¬ 
tion  elected  its  nominees  unanimously. 

Immediately  after  the  Cincinnati  convention  Mr. 
Burnham  wrote  to  Mr.  McLean  expressing  his  convic¬ 
tion  that  their  places  in  the  new  organization  should 
have  been  reversed.  To  this  letter  Mr.  McLean  sent 
the  following  answer : 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  October  80,  1919. 
Dear  Brother  Burnham : 

When  you  said  that  you  were  not  worthy  to  untie  my  shoe¬ 
strings  you  made  a  statement  to  which  I  could  not  subscribe. 
I  am  not  your  superior  in  any  respect  except  in  length  of 
service.  I  was  preaching  about  the  time  or  before  the  time 
you  were  born.  You  have  gifts  that  I  do  not  have.  You 


LETTER  TO  BURNHAM  315 

have  had  advantages  greater  than  mine.  You  can  do  things 
that  I  cannot  do. 

Ever  since  I  made  your  acquaintance  I  have  had  for  you 
admiration  and  affection.  The  admiration  and  affection  have 
increased  with  the  years  and  as  I  have  come  to  know  you 
better.  I  feel  sure  we  shall  be  able  to  work  together  in  per¬ 
fect  harmony.  We  have  been  friends  for  many  years,  and 
by  God’s  grace  we  shall  be  friends  until  the  end  of  the  day. 
I  shall  hold  myself  in  readiness  for  any  service  you  may  de¬ 
sire  and  I  can  render. 

I  did  not  wish  to  be  either  president  or  vice-president  of 
the  United  Society.  The  nominating  committee  did  right  in 
naming  you  as  president,  and  the  convention  did  right  in 
electing  you  and  in  making  the  election  unanimous.  J.  D. 
Armistead’s  proposed  amendment  annoyed  and  embarrassed 
me.  I  felt  then  and  I  feel  now  that  Mrs.  Atwater  should 
have  been  elected  first  vice-president.  That  would  be  carry¬ 
ing  out  the  policy  of  having  the  offices  divided  among  men 
and  women  as  nearly  equal  as  possible.  I  believe  the  women 
throughout  the  country  would  like  that.  My  wish  did  not 
prevail,  and  I  shall  not  complain. 

A  committee  of  the  American  Board  (Congregational) 
recommended  that  at  the  age  of  sixty-eight  all  ministers  and 
all  missionary  agents  be  retired.  Our  people  may  ordain 
something  of  the  kind  next  year  or  the  year  following.  I  am 
well  and  strong  now,  but  I  know  that  I  shall  not  always  be 
so.  But  while  I  have  health  and  strength  I  want  to  be  about 
the  Master’s  business.  I  desire  some  place  in  the  service.  I 
do  not  wish  to  be  idle,  and  there  is  nothing  else  that  I  can  do. 
No  college  and  no  church  would  want  me  in  any  capacity. 
However,  when  the  brethren  wish  me  to  step  aside,  I  trust  I 
shall  be  able  to  do  that  as  cheerfully  as  I  took  up  the  work 
at  their  call  thirty-eight  years  ago. 

The  good  Lord  be  with  you  and  guide  you  and  energize  you 
and  prosper  you  in  the  great  office  to  which  his  people  have 
called  you. 

Affectionately  and  truly  yours, 

A.  McLean. 

One  of  the  most  perplexing  problems  in  connection 
with  the  organization  of  the  United  Society  was  the 
location  of  its  headquarters.  Five  cities:  St.  Louis, 


316 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Indianapolis,  Cincinnati,  Chicago  and  New  York, 
urged  their  respective  advantages.  Cleveland  and 
Kansas  City  also  asked  for  consideration.  The  com¬ 
mittee  on  unification,  composed  of  all  the  officers  of 
the  old  societies,  discussed  the  question  from  time  to 
time  but  never  reached  an  agreement.  A  subcommit¬ 
tee  made  a  thorough  canvass  of  the  possibilities  of  each 
of  the  five  cities  and  reported  its  findings  to  the  larger 
committee  without  recommendation.  When  the 
executive  committee  of  the  United  Society  met,  the 
question  came  before  it  with  an  impartial  statement 
of  the  advantages  of  each  place.  On  the  first  ballot 
St.  Louis  had  so  many  more  votes  than  any  other  city 
that  the  second  ballot  gave  it  a  large  majority  and  the 
action  was  immediately  made  unanimous. 

t/ 

Mr.  McLean  favored  New  York  because  of  the  inter¬ 
national  scope  of  the  society’s  work  and  because  nearly 
all  the  missionary  boards  of  the  other  Protestant 
churches  are  located  in  that  city  and  there  is  constant 
and  increasing  necessity  for  consultation  and  coopera¬ 
tion  with  them.  At  the  same  time  he  recognized  the 
present  inconvenience  of  New  York  as  headquarters 
for  the  society,  since  the  great  body  of  the  membership 
of  the  churches  supporting  it  is  in  the  upper  Missis¬ 
sippi  valley  and  farther  west  and  southwest.  On  this 
account  he  was  quite  willing  that  the  offices  should  be 
in  the  Middle  West,  though  he  felt  that  in  ten  years 
the  wisdom  of  the  metropolitan  location  would  appear. 
Under  present  conditions  his  choice  was  Cincinnati 
because  it  was  already  the  headquarters  of  two  of  the 
older  boards,  and  because  of  its  historical  place  in 
the  development  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ.  When 
the  executive  committee  decided  the  question  he  ac¬ 
cepted  their  decision  without  question,  though  it  meant 
leaving  the  city  which  had  been  his  home  for  forty-six 
years,  the  entire  period  of  his  active  life.  Something 


REMOVAL  TO  ST.  LOUIS 


317 


of  his  feeling  regarding  the  change  he  indicated  in 
the  following  letter  to  Mrs.  Cusson,  at  whose  place  he 
had  taken  his  meals  for  twenty-two  years. 

St.  Louis,  Missouri,  September  19,  1920. 

Dear  Mrs.  Cusson : 

The  Round  Robin  came  here  when  I  was  in  California.  It 
warmed  my  heart  to  be  remembered  by  you  and  all  the  good 
friends  who  make  their  home  with  you.  I  cannot  think  of 
anything  that  could  give  me  greater  or  more  lasting  pleasure. 
I  am  going  to  have  it  framed  and  hung  on  the  wall  of  my 
new  home,  when  I  have  a  new  home. 

I  wisli  you  would  tell  all  the  good  friends  that  I  shall 
cherish  the  memory  of  their  gracious  kindness.  Blessings  on 
each  and  all. 

I  am  still  at  the  Melville  Hotel,  not  having  been  able  to 
find  a  suitable  apartment.  The  city  is  full.  There  are  more 
people  than  houses.  Rents  are  two  or  three  times  as  high 
here  as  in  Cincinnati.  Mary  Anderson  and  Little  Pal  and 
Mrs.  Bowden  were  here  for  two  days.  Colonel  Bowden  is  on 
the  Pacific  Coast.  Some  of  our  girls  are  in  the  hotel. 

I  am  comfortable  enough,  but  this  is  not  home,  and  will 
not  be  till  I  get  a  place  of  my  own.  The  table  is  good,  but 
Aunt  Fanny  is  not  here  to  make  the  ice  cream  on  Sunday  and 
to  superintend  the  Sunday  dinner  and  the  other  meals.  But 
I  fare  very  well. 

In  California  I  saw  the  Coopers  and  spent  a  night  in  their 
mansion.  They  say  they  are  coming  East  later  in  the  season. 

With  best  wishes  for  yourself  and  every  member  of  your 
family,  I  remain, 

Yours  most  cordially, 

A.  McLean. 

The  work  continued  under  the  old  hoards  until  the 
close  of  the  missionary  year,  September  30,  1920,  but 
the  societies  moved  their  offices  to  St.  Louis  in  August 
and  established  headquarters  on  the  sixth  floor  of  the 
Missouri  State  Life  Building,  the  northwest  corner  of 
Fifteenth  and  Locust  Streets. 

The  acute  shortage  of  houses  made  it  extremely 
difficult  for  the  personnel  of  the  society  to  get  satis- 


318 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


factory  homes.  Mr.  McLean,  with  a  number  of  others, 
found  temporary  accommodations  in  The  Melville,  a 
residential  hotel  at  5338  Bartmer  Avenue.  Being 
disappointed  in  his  effort  to  find  a  small  apartment 
without  paying  an  extravagant  rental,  he  finally  com¬ 
bined  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  It.  Warren  in  taking 
apartment  C,  the  second  floor  east,  of  Washington 
Hall  at  535  Clara  Avenue,  which  was  conveniently 
divided  so  as  to  give  him  three  comfortable  rooms. 
Immediately  following  the  St.  Louis  convention  he  took 
possession  of  his  new  home,  unpacked  his  beloved 
books  and  resumed  the  regular  order  of  his  life. 

The  hotel  and  the  apartment  were  each  about  ten 
minutes  ’  walk  from  the  Union  Avenue  Church.  Mr. 
McLean  was  already  intimately  acquainted  with  many 
of  the  members  of  this  congregation  both  through  his 
visits  to  St.  Louis  and  their  regular  attendance  upon 
the  national  conventions.  The  pastor,  George  A.  Camp¬ 
bell,  he  had  known  from  the  beginning  of  Mr.  Camp¬ 
bell  ’s  ministry.  He  had  represented  the  Foreign 
Society  on  convention  programs  and  Mr.  McLean 
esteemed  him  highly  both  as  a  personal  friend  and  as  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  so  he  felt  doubly  at  home  in 
this  church.  Yet  his  preference  was  to  locate  near  the 
First  Church,  farther  downtown,  because  he  felt  that 
he  was  more  needed  there.  He  found  it  impossible, 
however,  to  secure  a  home  in  that  section  and  entered 
at  once  into  the  work  and  life  of  the  Union  Avenue 
Church,  just  as  his  custom  had  been  in  the  Central 
Church  at  Cincinnati. 

After  he  changed  his  residence  from  Mt.  Healthy  to 
Cincinnati  in  1896,  he  placed  his  membership  in  the  old 
Central  Church  downtown,  although  his  apartment 
was  not  far  from  the  Walnut  Hills  Church.  At  great 
personal  inconvenience  he  went  back  and  forth  to  all 
its  Sunday  and  midweek  services  and  even  to  the 


CHURCH  AND  HOME 


319 


nightly  meetings  of  its  revivals  and  to  the  official 
board  meetings  and  every  sort  of  special  service. 
Many  of  the  former  members  had  moved  away  from 
the  downtown  church  and  gone  into  the  churches 
nearest  their  homes.  Having  no  family  he  felt  freer 
than  others  to  go  and  come.  Thus  he  threw  all  of  his 
strength  and  influence  into  the  place  of  greatest  need 
and  largest  opportunity  for  service.  His  decision  to 
attend  a  church  near  his  home  in  St.  Louis  was  a  tacit 
recognition  of  his  age  and  of  the  increasing  difficulty 
he  felt  in  getting  about,  especially  at  night.  When 
waiting  at  a  corner  for  automobiles  to  pass  one  eve¬ 
ning,  he  remarked  to  a  friend,  “I  fully  expect  to  be 
killed  by  one  of  those  things  yet.  ’  ’ 

One  Wednesday  evening  at  prayer  meeting  the  topic 
was  expressed  in  unusual  words  of  six  syllables.  The 
leader  asked  Mr.  McLean  to  define  the  terms.  Pro¬ 
testing  modestly  that  he  was  no  dictionary,  he  gave  the 
required  explanation.  After  the  meeting  some  one  re¬ 
marked  to  him,  4  ‘  They  put  you  in  the  limelight,  Mr. 
McLean.”  Instantly  he  countered,  “They  put  me  in 
the  hole ! ’  ’ 

At  the  new  headquarters  only  the  president  and  the 
two  vice-presidents  had  private  offices.  These  were 
located  at  the  southeast  corner  of  the  floor  and  were 
both  convenient  and  comfortable.  He  quickly  adjusted 
himself  to  the  new  location  and  seemed  thoroughly 
happy  both  in  his  home  and  in  his  office,  except  that 
he  had  not  been  able  to  make  satisfactory  arrange¬ 
ments  for  his  evening  meal.  Following  his  lifelong 
custom  he  arose  at  five  o’clock  every  morning,  wrote 
a  while  at  home  and  then  came  down  to  the  office  ahead 
of  the  morning  rush  on  the  street  cars,  and  took  his 
breakfast  at  the  Young  Women’s  Christian  Associa¬ 
tion,  just  a  few  doors  from  the  office  on  Locust  Street. 
Here  he  usually  had  his  luncheon  also. 

The  following  note  indicates  something  of  the  regard 


318 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


factory  homes.  Mr.  McLean,  with  a  number  of  others, 
found  temporary  accommodations  in  The  Melville,  a 
residential  hotel  at  5338  Bartmer  Avenue.  Being 
disappointed  in  his  effort  to  find  a  small  apartment 
without  paying  an  extravagant  rental,  he  finally  com¬ 
bined  with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  R.  Warren  in  taking 
apartment  C,  the  second  floor  east,  of  Washington 
Hall  at  535  Clara  Avenue,  which  was  conveniently 
divided  so  as  to  give  him  three  comfortable  rooms. 
Immediately  following  the  St.  Louis  convention  he  took 
possession  of  his  new  home,  unpacked  his  beloved 
books  and  resumed  the  regular  order  of  his  life. 

The  hotel  and  the  apartment  were  each  about  ten 
minutes  ’  walk  from  the  Union  Avenue  Church.  Mr. 
McLean  was  already  intimately  acquainted  with  many 
of  the  members  of  this  congregation  both  through  his 
visits  to  St.  Louis  and  their  regular  attendance  upon 
the  national  conventions.  The  pastor,  George  A.  Camp¬ 
bell,  he  had  known  from  the  beginning  of  Mr.  Camp¬ 
bell  ’s  ministry.  He  had  represented  the  Foreign 
Society  on  convention  programs  and  Mr.  McLean 
esteemed  him  highly  both  as  a  personal  friend  and  as  a 
minister  of  the  gospel,  so  he  felt  doubly  at  home  in 
this  church.  Yet  his  preference  was  to  locate  near  the 
First  Church,  farther  downtown,  because  he  felt  that 
he  was  more  needed  there.  He  found  it  impossible, 
however,  to  secure  a  home  in  that  section  and  entered 
at  once  into  the  work  and  life  of  the  Union  Avenue 
Church,  just  as  his  custom  had  been  in  the  Central 
Church  at  Cincinnati. 

After  he  changed  his  residence  from  Mt.  Healthy  to 
Cincinnati  in  1896,  he  placed  his  membership  in  the  old 
Central  Church  downtown,  although  his  apartment 
was  not  far  from  the  Walnut  Hills  Church.  At  great 
personal  inconvenience  he  went  back  and  forth  to  all 
its  Sunday  and  midweek  services  and  even  to  the 


CHURCH  AND  HOME 


3X9 


nightly  meetings  of  its  revivals  and  to  the  official 
board  meetings  and  every  sort  of  special  service. 
Many  of  the  former  members  had  moved  away  from 
the  downtown  church  and  gone  into  the  churches 
nearest  their  homes.  Having  no  family  he  felt  freer 
than  others  to  go  and  come.  Thus  he  threw  all  of  his 
strength  and  influence  into  the  place  of  greatest  need 
and  largest  opportunity  for  service.  His  decision  to 
attend  a  church  near  his  home  in  St.  Louis  was  a  tacit 
recognition  of  his  age  and  of  the  increasing  difficulty 
he  felt  in  getting  about,  especially  at  night.  When 
waiting  at  a  corner  for  automobiles  to  pass  one  eve¬ 
ning,  he  remarked  to  a  friend,  “I  fully  expect  to  be 
killed  by  one  of  those  things  yet.” 

One  Wednesday  evening  at  prayer  meeting  the  topic 
was  expressed  in  unusual  words  of  six  syllables.  The 
leader  asked  Mr.  McLean  to  define  the  terms.  Pro¬ 
testing  modestly  that  he  was  no  dictionary,  he  gave  the 
required  explanation.  After  the  meeting  some  one  re¬ 
marked  to  him,  4  6  They  put  you  in  the  limelight,  Mr. 
McLean.”  Instantly  he  countered,  ‘ 4 They  put  me  in 
the  hole !  ’ y 

At  the  new  headquarters  only  the  president  and  the 
two  vice-presidents  had  private  offices.  These  were 
located  at  the  southeast  corner  of  the  floor  and  were 
both  convenient  and  comfortable.  He  quickly  adjusted 
himself  to  the  new  location  and  seemed  thoroughly 
happy  both  in  his  home  and  in  his  office,  except  that 
he  had  not  been  able  to  make  satisfactory  arrange¬ 
ments  for  his  evening  meal.  Following  his  lifelong 
custom  he  arose  at  five  o’clock  every  morning,  wrote 
a  while  at  home  and  then  came  down  to  the  office  ahead 
of  the  morning  rush  on  the  street  cars,  and  took  his 
breakfast  at  the  Young  Women’s  Christian  Associa¬ 
tion,  just  a  few  doors  from  the  office  on  Locust  Street. 
Here  he  usually  had  his  luncheon  also. 

The  following  note  indicates  something  of  the  regard 


320 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


in  which  the  entire  organization  in  St.  Louis  held  Mr. 
McLean  and  the  profound  influence  that  he  wielded 
there,  especially  in  the  devotional  service  of  ten 
minutes  at  the  beginning  of  every  day. 

My  dear  Bishop : 

I  wanted  to  write  this  word  about  the  fine  devotional  talk 
you  made  Monday  morning.  You  keyed  the  whole  bunch  up 
in  a  wonderful  way  with  the  vision  and  breadth  of  your 
message.  A  number  have  spoken  to  me  about  it.  As  for 
myself,  nothing  has  so  stirred  me  to  the  depths  in  many  a  day. 
You  always  put  something  into  me  by  your  messages,  which 
stays  with  me  for  days.  You  do  me  good  and  I  wish  I  could 
hear  you  oftener.  I  just  wanted  to  tell  you  how  much  I  love 
you  for  it. 

Bert  Wilson. 

Far  different  than  he  had  dreamed  in  his  youth  he 
had  become  a  teacher,  the  beloved  schoolmaster  of  a 
million  souls.  All  of  the  officers  of  the  society  and  the 
entire  office  force  heard  his  every  word  with  eager 
appreciation  and  felt  his  presence  as  a  continued  bene¬ 
diction.  Churches  and  conventions  all  over  the  conti¬ 
nent  besought  him  constantly  to  come  and  instruct 
them  in  the  Book  of  God.  The  combining  of  six  interests 
of  the  brotherhood  in  the  United  Society  and  its  close 
cooperation  with  the  colleges  through  the  Board  of 
Education  removed  all  barriers  to  his  free  service  to 
all  the  people.  His  exemption  from  administrative 
responsibilities  gave  him  liberty  to  magnify  his  teach¬ 
ing  function.  Thus  the  successful  inauguration  of  the 
United  Christian  Missionary  Society  gave  him  great 
personal  satisfaction  while  it  filled  his  soul  with  confi¬ 
dence  in  more  rapid  progress  toward  the  redemption 
of  the  race. 

Mr.  McLean  had  attended  regularly  each  year  as 
many  of  the  state  and  provincial  conventions  as  he 
could  reach.  He  had  probably  sat  through  more 
missionary  conventions  and  listened  to  a  greater  num- 


THE  BELOVED  SCHOOLMASTER  321 


ber  of  religious  addresses  than  any  other  man  on  the 
continent.  Responding  in  kind  his  brethren  had  heard 
him  gladly.  One  convention  he  rarely  missed,  that  of 
Ontario.  The  national  fellow-feeling  of  Canadians  and 
the  spiritual  affinity  of  Christians  had  so  grown 
through  thirty-nine  years  that  his  presence  in  the 
Ontario  June  meeting  was  like  Paul’s  conference  with 
the  elders  of  the  church  at  Ephesus.  Against  his  wish 
and  habit  he  was  compelled  to  leave  the  Ontario  con¬ 
vention  of  1920  in  the  midst  of  one  of  the  sessions,  to 
catch  a  train  for  another  convention.  The  president 
stopped  him  and  asked  for  a  parting  word.  As  he 
paused  the  convention  arose  and  stood  while  he  quoted 
Ephesians  3:14-19:  “For  this  cause  I  bow  my  knees 
unto  the  Father,  from  whom  every  family  in  heaven 
and  on  earth  is  named,  that  he  would  grant  you,  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  riches  of  his  glory,  that  ye  may  be  strength¬ 
ened  with  power  through  his  Spirit  in  the  inward  man ; 
that  Christ  may  dwell  in  your  hearts  through  faith ;  to 
the  end  that  ye  being  rooted  and  grounded  in  love,  may 
be  strong  to  apprehend  with  all  saints  what  is  the 
breadth  and  length  and  height  and  depth,  and  to  know 
the  love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge,  that  ye 
may  be  filled  unto  all  the  fulness  of  God.”  Then  he 
went  out  amid  a  great  hush,  and  they  never  looked 
upon  his  face  again,  but  they  remembered  the  words 
he  spoke  while  he  was  yet  with  them,  not  his  own 
words  but  the  words  of  God. 

In  like  manner  a  company  returning  home  from  one 
of  the  Indiana  conventions  on  an  interurban  car  will 
always  remember  a  characteristic  act.  The  College  of 
Missions  quartet  was  on  the  car  and  sang  many  songs, 
some  grave,  some  gay.  Finally  they  began  with  rev¬ 
erent  voices,  Holy  Ghost,  with  Light  Divine.  Instantly 
Mr.  McLean’s  hat  came  off  and  his  face  unconsciously 
showed  that  the  hymn  was  his  prayer;  and  his  prayer 
the  ruling  passion  of  his  life. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 


A  PARTNERSHIP  OP  CONSECRATION 

TEAMWORK  OF  MC  LEAN  AND  RAINS - LETTERS  WHICH  STRENGTHENED 

THE  BOND - LAST  WORDS — FUNERAL  SERMON — LETTERS  TO  FRIENDS - LIFE- 

AND-DEATH  UNION. 

'C’BOM  September,  1893,  when  Francis  Marion 
*  Bains  became  associate  secretary  of  the  Foreign 
Christian  Missionary  Society,  to  the  24th  of  October, 
1919,  when  death  released  him  from  his  abundant 
labors,  Mr.  McLean  and  Mr.  Bains  were  intimate  part¬ 
ners  in  God’s  service.  Their  loyalty  to  each  other  was 
surpassed  only  by  their  consecration  to  their  Lord. 

Before  the  expression  teamwork  was  invented  they 
gave  one  of  the  finest  demonstrations  of  its  meaning 
that  America  has  ever  seen.  One  sowed  and  the  other 
reaped;  one  educated  and  the  other  gathered  the  fruits 
of  the  instruction.  In  every  way  Mr.  Bains  justified 
for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  Mr.  McLean’s 
forecast  in  the  Annual  Report  of  1893:  “In  the  com¬ 
ing  year  the  work  will  be  kept  before  the  public  as 
never  before.  It  will  be  his  duty  to  devise  and  execute 
plans  looking  to  the  increase  of  the  offerings  for  for¬ 
eign  missions.  He  will  make  it  a  point  to  secure  be¬ 
quests.  Before  long  every  church  will  feel  the  power 
of  his  unquenchable  enthusiasm. 

Of  this  partnership,  Stephen  J.  Corey,  who  became 
a  member  of  the  firm  in  1905,  says: 

One  of  the  finest  things  in  the  lives  of  Mr.  McLean  and  Mr. 
Rains  was  their  supplementing  of  each  other  in  every  way. 
They  were  as  opposite  in  temperament  and  disposition  as  any 

322 


TEAMWORK  OF  McLEAN  AND  RAINS  323 


two  men  could  be,  but  their  Lives  dovetailed  into  each  other  in 
a  wonderful  way  for  the  good  of  the  cause.  Mr.  McLean  was  a 
prophet — Mr.  Rains  was  a  promoter.  The  first  lived  a  studi¬ 
ous,  thought-constructive  life,  the  latter  was  extremely  prac¬ 
tical  and  dealt  in  matters  that  could  be  seen.  Mr.  McLean 
was  a  teacher  of  our  brotherhood  on  the  subject  of  mis¬ 
sions — Mr.  Rains  applied  this  teaching  and  put  it  into  dol¬ 
lars  and  cents  for  the  support  of  the  work.  Mr.  McLean  was 
the  writer,  the  defender,  the  expositor  of  Christ’s  plan  for  the 
conquest  of  the  world — Mr.  Rains  undergirded  this  program 
with  the  financial  support  of  the  brotherhood  and  capitalized 
on  the  doctrine  of  missions  with  the  organized  maintenance 
of  missions.  Mr.  McLean  awakened  the  thought  and  con¬ 
science  of  our  brotherhood  as  to  our  world  obligations.  Mr. 
Rains  backed  this  up  with  such  organization  and  financial 
plan  as  were  necessary.  The  two  men  often  differed,  but  in 
the  final  test  they  agreed,  and  when  they  agreed  they  stood 
together  without  reference  to  former  differences  of  convic¬ 
tion.  Each  honored  the  other  and  each  leaned  upon  the 
other.  They  were  as  David  and  Jonathan  and  their  love  for 
each  other  knew  no  bounds. 

Intensive  cultivation  of  the  home  base  began  when 
Mr.  Rains  came  into  the  work  in  1893.  Nearly  every 
Sunday  he  dedicated  a  church  building.  Congrega¬ 
tions  thus  served  paid  not  only  his  expenses  but  most 
of  his  salary  also,  and  at  the  same  time  gave  him 
opportunities  to  present  foreign  missions  to  larger 
audiences  than  he  could  have  reached  otherwise.  The 
coming  of  Mr.  Rains  more  than  doubled  the  number  of 
district  and  state  conventions  attended,  since  one  or 
the  other  could  remain  in  the  field  for  long  periods. 

Mr.  McLean  and  Mr.  Rains  made  a  balanced  and 
efficient  partnership.  Inexhaustible  energy  and  un¬ 
tiring  industry  distinguished  both  of  them.  Neither 
thought  of  taking  a  vacation  or  even  a  weekly  rest 
day.  Each  entertained  the  highest  admiration  for  the 
ability  and  devotion  of  the  other,  and  their  comrade¬ 
ship  in  the  work  grew  rapidly  into  an  absorbing  affec¬ 
tion.  Each  had  a  strong  personality.  Naturally  their 


324 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


opinions  on  the  questions  that  came  before  them  were 
sometimes  diametrically  opposite.  But  after  thorough 
discussion  with  each  other,  with  the  executive  com¬ 
mittee  and  with  other  advisers,  they  would  reach  a 
decision  that  was  final  for  both.  Then  the  one  whose 
judgment  had  not  prevailed  was  as  earnest  an  advo¬ 
cate  of  the  measure  as  if  he  had  been  its  original 
author. 

The  year  1900  brought  a  summary  warning  that  Mr. 
Rains  was  seriously  overworking  by  putting  in  a  full 
week  at  the  office  and  then  dedicating  a  church  nearly 
every  Sunday.  In  February  of  that  year  he  had  an 
attack  of  facial  paralysis  which  compelled  him  to  rest 
for  a  while.  Complete  recovery  came  in  the  fall 
through  ten  weeks  at  the  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium. 
Previous  to  this  he  had  resumed  much  of  his  work 
and  had  gone  to  New  York  to  attend  the  Ecumen¬ 
ical  Missionary  Conference.  Finding  this  too  severe 
a  tax,  however,  he  yielded  to  the  insistence  of  Mr. 
McLean  that  he  should  go  to  Battle  Creek  for  thor¬ 
ough  treatment,  and  left  the  conference  for  that  pur¬ 
pose.  With  the  urgent  demands  in  every  direction,  it 
was  hard  to  remember  that  there  was  a  limit  to  human 
strength,  and  so  from  time  to  time  he  felt  that  he 
would  have  to  give  up  the  work  entirely.  While  Mr. 
McLean  was  out  in  the  rallies  in  1907,  Mr.  Rains  wrote 
him  to  this  effect  and  received  the  following  letter  in 
reply: 


Valparaiso,  Indiana,  December  11,  1907. 
Dear  Brother  Rains : 

Your  note  about  giving  up  the  work  startled  and  terrified 
me.  I  have  not  slept  much  since  reading  it.  In  case  you 
go  out  what  is  to  become  of  the  work?  No  one  can  take  your 
place.  No  man  can  push  things  as  you  do.  Someone  else 
might  sit  at  your  desk  but  no  man  known  to  me  can  bring 
things  to  pass  as  you  can. 

You  have  been  overworked.  It  was  a  mistake  for  Brother 


LETTERS  THAT  HELPED 


325 


Corey  and  me  to  leave  you  alone  in  the  Rooms.  You  have 
too  much  to  do  and  to  think  about.  It  is  a  relief  to  anyone 
to  have  an  associate  about  to  confer  with.  You  are  bearing 
the  burden  alone.  That  should  not  be  so.  If  we  had  a  field 
man  or  two  that  would  not  be  necessary. 

In  my  opinion  it  would  be  a  fatal  mistake  to  go  out  this 
year  or  to  intimate  that  you  are  thinking  of  going  out.  With 
the  Centennial  in  sight,  I  feel  you  should  dismiss  all  thought 
of  giving  up  the  work.  I  have  always  hoped  that  you  and 
I  might  continue  in  the  harness  together  for  some  years,  till 
we  reach  a  million  a  year.  If  you  give  up,  I  might  as  well 
go  too,  I  could  not  do  much  in  your  absence. 

The  thing  to  do  is  to  make  it  easier  for  you  for  the  present. 
After  the  Centennial  you  should  visit  the  fields.  The  society 
should  grant  you  a  year  for  the  purpose.  That  would  build 
you  up  and  prepare  you  for  a  decade  or  score  of  years  of  the 
best  service  you  have  ever  done.  That  will  complete  and 
crown  your  career. 

I  do  not  know  of  any  two  or  three  men  who  could  do  your 
work.  You  are  a  mighty  man.  There  is  no  living  man  to 
whom  our  people  owe  as  much  as  they  do  to  you.  You  have 
been  the  leader  in  all  our  forward  missionary  movements. 
Your  voice  has  called  the  churches  to  advance.  If  you  should 
give  up  now,  I  greatly  fear  we  would  go  backwards, 

I  shall  be  home  on  Thursday  night.  We  can  talk  about  mat¬ 
ters  before  I  leave  on  Saturday. 

The  calendar  was  received.  Those  who  have  seen  it  ad¬ 
mire  it  very  much.  I  left  it  with  Mrs.  Dye.  I  wish  your 
face  and  name  were  on  it  instead  of  mine.  The  December 
Intelligencer  is  a  good  number.  I  have  heard  several  speak 
very  highly  of  it. 

We  are  having  splendid  rallies.  They  are  better  attended 
than  ever  before  and  are  more  profitable.  Dye  and  Weaver 
are  a  glorious  team.  I  wish  they  were  both  going  with  me 
to  the  end. 

God  bless  you  with  health  and  strength. 

Affectionately  yours, 

A.  McLean. 

Rest  on  Sunda}^s.  That  will  pay  better  than  dedicating 
churches. 


326 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


This  settled  for  several  years  the  question  of  Mr. 

Rains’  continuing  with  the  society.  When  he  returned 

from  the  Orient  in  1911  with  seriously  impaired  health 

he  brought  the  matter  up  again,  but  Mr.  McLean  and 

all  others  in  the  society  felt  that  F.  M.  Rains  could 

«/ 

accomplish  more  in  three  hours  a  day  than  a  new  man 
could  in  ten.  It  was  not  possible,  however,  for  Mr. 
Rains  to  restrict  considerably  his  working  hours.  His 
habit  and  his  enthusiasm  both  held  him  to  the  task 
from  dawn  to  dusk.  Even  when  he  went  to  Florida  or 
to  Texas  for  a  vacation,  churches  and  conventions  in 
the  regions  where  he  was  sojourning  kept  him  speak¬ 
ing  constantly.  Mr.  McLean  did  everything  in  his 
power  to  lighten  his  partner’s  load  and  to  cheer  his 
heart.  He  was  particularly  faithful  in  writing  to  him 
when  they  were  separated.  The  two  letters  which  fol¬ 
low  are  typical  of  many  others  which  he  wrote  with 
his  own  hand;  the  second  while  he  was  in  the  field 
helping  the  Men  and  Millions  Movement. 

March  2,  1915. 

Dear  Doctor: 

Wherever  I  go  I  find  the  people  greatly  interested  in  you. 
You  have  a  large  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  and  you 
deserve  it.  No  man  has  ever  rendered  our  cause  a  better 
service  than  you  have.  E.  B.  Barnes  was  speaking  about  you 
when  I  saw  him  last.  He  said  he  never  saw  your  equal  in 
energy  and  enthusiasm  and  “pep.”  Tens  of  thousands  feel 
the  same.  The  hope  of  all  who  know  you  is  that  you  will  so 
recruit  your  strength  in  the  months  you  are  absent  from  the 
Rooms  that  you  will  be  able  to  take  your  place  in  the  work 
before  the  end  of  the  jrear.  I  do  not  know  how  we  are  going 
to  go  on  and  grow  without  your  presence  and  help.  The 
prayer  of  your  associates  in  the  Rooms  is  for  your  complete 
recovery,  and  that  speedily.  G-od  bless  you  and  Mrs.  Rains 
and  all  dear  to  you. 

Affectionately  yours, 

A.  McLean. 


LETTERS  OF  FELLOWSHIP 


327 


November  17,  1917. 

My  dear  Doctor : 

Yours  of  the  6th  reached  me  in  Nashville.  I  am  now  in 
Memphis.  We  are  having  good  meetings.  Yesterday’s  set¬ 
up  was  wonderful.  I  think  I  was  never  in  a  better  service. 
Miller  (R.  H.)  made  a  profound  impression.  He  is  an  orator. 
Abe  (Cory)  does  too,  though  he  is  not  a  bit  like  Miller.  Our 
people — Madden,  Hagin,  Dye  and  Dr.  McGavran  stir  the 
people.  No  one  stirs  them  more  deeply  than  Dr.  McGavran. 
All  the  speakers  do  well,  and  are  heard  with  deepest  interest. 

We  did  not  get  much  money  in  Nashville.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
was  trying  to  raise  money  at  the  same  time.  The  claims  of 
the  war  come  first.  Men  say,  “We  must  win  the  war.”  Till 
the  war  is  won  they  do  not  propose  to  give  for  any  other 
cause. 

We  have  not  begun  to  solicit  here  in  Memphis.  We  shall 
do  better  here  than  we  did  in  Nashville. 

I  was  not  mistaken  about  Paul’s  (Mr.  Rains’  son)  speech. 
He  did  remarkably  well.  I  was  proud  of  him  and  happy  on 
your  account  and  on  his  account. 

Smith  of  North  Carolina  told  me  of  your  great  address 
at  Wilson.  He  said  you  carried  the  convention  by  storm. 
He  was  greatly  impressed  and  greatly  pleased. 

You  speak  about  being  well.  I  trust  you  will  take  good 
care  of  yourself.  Be  sure  to  get  plenty  of  sleep.  Don’t  over¬ 
work.  Let  Mrs.  Rains  have  her  way  with  you. 

I  am  a  poor  solicitor.  Abe  knows  that.  I  am  sent  with  an 
experienced  man.  All  I  am  expected  to  do  is  to  reenforce  my 
mate  with  my  presence  and  some  few  words  now  and  then. 
I  help  with  the  maps  and  charts  and  speak  when  there  is  op¬ 
portunity. 

Abe  has  not  been  with  us  much.  Rafe  (Miller)  is  in  full 
command  most  of  the  time.  We  are  a  happy  family. 

We  are  due  in  Cincinnati  the  night  before  Thanksgiving. 
The  Georgia  campaign  has  been  called  off  for  the  present. 
Billy  Sunday  is  in  Atlanta;  that  is  the  reason. 

I  am  well  and  enjoy  this  new  experience.  I  wish  for  you 
and  Mrs.  Rains  all  the  best  things  in  life. 

Affectionately  yours, 


A.  McLean. 


328 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Those  who  were  most  intimately  associated  with  Mr. 
McLean  were  frequently  surprised  by  the  range  of  his 
interest  and  knowledge.  By  some  accident  that 
kept  the  head  of  the  family  away  from  the  table,  Mrs. 
Rains  discovered  on  some  holiday  occasion  when  Mr. 
McLean  was  the  guest  of  honor,  that  he  was  skillful 
at  carving  a  fowl.  After  the  secret  became  known  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Rains  always  assigned  him  this  task  when 
he  was  dining  with  them.  Whether  it  was  turkey  or 
chicken,  goose  or  duck,  he  did  the  carving  quickly  and 
neatly.  The  clue  as  to  how  he  came  by  this  skill  is 
possibly  furnished  by  a  clipping  from  some  newspaper 
that  he  had  preserved.  This  not  only  gives  elaborate 
directions  but  sets  forth  the  successive  stages  of  the 
process  with  four  drawings  in  detail. 

Mr.  Rains  had  been  looking  forward  to  the  Cincin¬ 
nati  (1919)  convention,  hoping  that  he  would  be  able 
to  attend  a  part  of  it,  but  shortly  before  it  he  suffered  a 
relapse  which  not  only  made  this  impossible  but 
rendered  him  unable  to  see  his  friends.  One  day  dur¬ 
ing  the  convention  when  he  seemed  better  than  usual, 
Mrs.  Rains  asked  whether  he  would  not  like  to  see  Mr. 
McLean.  He  answered,  “Yes.  Send  for  Brother 
McLean.  Send  for  Brother  McLean.’ ’  Mr.  McLean 
came  out  immediately.  Conversation  was  impossible 
for  either  of  them.  Mr.  McLean  took  his  hand,  knelt 
by  his  bed  and  prayed.  Mr.  Rains  said,  as  the  tears 
rolled  down  his  cheeks,  “I  love  the  brethren.”  Then 
after  Mr.  McLean  had  stepped  back  from  the  bed,  ad¬ 
dressing  Mrs.  Rains,  he  continued,  “I  loved  him  with 

an  unceasing  love.  We  differed  but - .”  His  voice 

faltered  and  he  could  say  no  more.  He  clearly  referred 
to  the  convention  and  to  the  comrade  of  twenty-six 
years. 

For  weeks  prior  to  the  convention  it  had  been  Mr. 
McLean’s  custom  to  spend  each  Thursday  evening 


LAST  WORDS  TOGETHER 


329 


with  Mr.  Rains,  talking  over  matters  of  mutual  inter¬ 
est,  including  especially  the  constitution  and  organiza¬ 
tion  of  the  United  Christian  Missionary  Society  and 
the  probable  action  of  the  convention  on  that  and 
other  important  questions  that  would  come  before  it. 
Each  of  course  knew  that  their  separation  was  impend¬ 
ing,  but  probably  neither  realized  that  it  was  so  near. 

Difficult  as  it  was  for  Mr.  McLean  to  speak  at  his 
friend’s  funeral  there  was,  of  course,  no  one  so 
well  qualified  to  tell  the  story  of  his  life  and  give  an 
interpretation  of  his  character  and  an  estimate  of  the 
great  service  he  had  rendered  the  cause  of  Christ. 
Many  of  the  things  which  Mr.  McLean  said  in  this 
address  have  already  found  a  place  in  this  record,  but 
the  following  passages  do  not  duplicate  what  appears 
elsewhere  and  deserve  to  be  preserved  to  honor  both 
their  subject  and  their  author. 

“And  they  buried  him  in  the  city  of  David  among  the 
kings,  because  he  had  done  good  in  Israel,  both  toward  God 
and  toward  his  house.”  2  Chronicles  24:16. 

As  secretary  of  the  society  Mr.  Rains  spoke  much  before 
churches  and  conventions.  He  visited  all  parts  of  the  con¬ 
tinent  where  we  have  churches;  he  visited  the  Orient  twice, 
and  Europe  and  Australia  each  once.  He  spoke  everywhere 
and  always  with  marvelous  power.  His  voice  was  as  clear  as 
a  bell  and  rang  out  like  a  trumpet.  The  largest  audiences 
heard  every  word  with  perfect  ease.  God  gave  him  wit  and 
humor  as  well  as  pathos  and  passion,  and  the  people  drank 
in  his  messages  as  the  thirsty  land  drinks  in  water.  What  is 
more,  they  remembered  and  acted  upon  what  he  said.  The 
churches  in  Australia  said  that  they  never  heard  such  mis¬ 
sionary  appeals  as  fell  from  his  lips. 

Mr.  Rains  knew  the  value  of  the  printed  page  and  made 
large  use  of  literature  in  his  propaganda.  He  assisted  in 
editing  the  Intelligencer  and  the  Voice  and  the  March  Offer¬ 
ing  Manual  and  the  Children’s  Bay  Manual,  and  other  pub¬ 
lications.  On  his  foreign  tours  he  reported  what  he  saw  and 
heard.  He  wrote  much  and  he  wrote  well.  Luke  Luther’s,  his 


330 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


words  were  half  battles;  they  were  living  things  with  hands 
and  feet.  He  knew  by  instinct  what  the  people  wanted  and 
he  gave  them  that.  He  insisted  that  every  circular,  every 
leaflet,  every  booklet,  and  every  magazine  that  left  the  mis¬ 
sion  rooms  should  not  only  be  instructive  as  regards  sub¬ 
stance,  but  attractive  in  appearance  as  well,  good  paper,  good 
ink,  good  presswork,  and  good  illustrations. 

While  the  work  of  the  society  had  the  first  claim  upon  him, 
Mr.  Rains  was  interested  in  every  department  of  the  work 
of  the  kingdom.  He  was  an  advocate  of  every  political  and 
every  social  and  every  moral  reform.  He  was  an  advocate 
of  nation-wide  and  world-wide  Prohibition,  of  Universal  Suf¬ 
frage,  and  of  every  other  cause  that  had  as  its  objective  the 
welfare  of  humanity  and  the  glory  of  Christ.  In  increasing 
the  receipts  of  the  Foreign  Society  he  made  it  easier  for  every 
other  society  to  increase  its  receipts.  The  methods  he  in¬ 
vented  were  borrowed  by  others  and  with  good  results.  Years 
ago  President  McGarvey  asked  him  to  become  a  trustee  of 
the  College  of  the  Bible.  His  hands  were  full  and  he  was 
unwilling  to  assume  any  additional  obligations;  but  his 
former  teacher  and  friend  pressed  the  matter  upon  him,  say¬ 
ing  that  he  needed  his  counsel  and  assistance.  He  accepted 
the  trust  and  served  the  institution  faithfully  and  helpfully. 

Mr.  Rains  was  “given  to  hospitality. ’ ’  And  what  a  genial 
and  gracious  host  he  was!  He  was  never  happier  than  when 
he  had  his  friends  under  his  roof  and  at  his  table.  Most  of 
the  missionaries  of  the  society  and  missionaries  of  other  so¬ 
cieties  were  entertained  by  him  and  Mrs.  Rains.  He  wanted 
to  know  the  missionaries  more  intimately,  to  learn  of  their 
problems  and  needs,  and  what  the  society  could  do  to  meet 
their  needs  and  increase  their  influence.  To  missionaries  on 
furlough  and  to  missionary  candidates  a  visit  in  his  home 
was  like  rivers  of  water  in  a  dry  place,  like  the  shadow  of  a 
great  rock  in  a  weary  land.  And  because  of  his  hospitality 
there  are  men  and  women  in  the  fields  who  were  refreshed 
and  heartened  by  him  in  his  home  who  will  mourn  with  us 
when  they  hear  of  his  departure  to  be  with  the  Lord. 

No  one  saw  Mr.  Rains  at  his  best  who  did  not  see  him  in 
his  home.  It  was  there  that  all  the  gentleness  and  tender¬ 
ness  and  chivalry  of  his  nature  found  expression.  He  loved 
his  wife  and  children  with  a  surpassing  love.  When  he 
crossed  his  own  threshold  the  cares  and  perplexities  and  an- 


FUNERAL  SERMON  FOR  RAINS 


331 


noyances  of  the  mission  rooms  were  left  behind.  Canon 
Kingsley  used  to  say  that  there  was  more  laughter  in  his 
home  than  in  any  other  home  in  England.  It  is  safe  to  say 
that  there  were  few  homes  in  America  in  which  there  was 
more  contagious  laughter  and  more  riotous  mirth  than  in  the 
home  of  our  friend.  There  a  guest  found  what  Milton  called 
“Jest  and  youthful  jollity.”  Mr.  Rains  was  a  boy  to  the  last 
and  it  was  in  his  home  that  the  boy-side  of  his  nature  was 
seen  to  the  best  advantage.  But  there  was  another  side;  his 
life  was  not  all  mirth  and  gayety.  There  was  a  serious  ele¬ 
ment  and  that  was  in  evidence  also.  On  the  breakfast  table 
there  was  the  New  Testament.  Before  partaking  of  food  the 
Word  of  God  was  read  and  prayer  was  offered.  When  the 
Daily  Altar  was  published  he  procured  a  copy  and  was  de¬ 
lighted  with  it.  He  used  it  as  long  as  he  was  able  to  go  to 
the  table.  More  than  that,  he  spoke  to  his  friends  and  visi¬ 
tors  of  this  book  and  urged  them  to  use  it  in  their  family  wor¬ 
ship.  Not  only  so,  but  he  went  before  his  children  in  the 
way  of  holiness  and  said  to  them,  “This  is  the  way,  walk  you 
in  it.” 

It  should  be  said,  and  said  with  emphasis,  that  Mr.  Rains 
was  a  genuinely  religious  man.  He  was  educated  by  Robert 
Graham,  Isaiah  B.  Grubbs  and  John  W.  McGarvey,  and  was 
by  them  instructed  in  the  fundamentals  of  our  holy  religion, 
and  from  these  fundamentals  he  never  departed  by  so  much 
as  a  hair’s  breadth.  He  held  the  sovereignty  of  God,  the 
deity  and  saviorhood  and  lordship  of  Christ,  the  agency  of 
the  Holy  Spirit  in  conversion  and  sanctification,  the  inspira¬ 
tion  and  all-sufficiency  of  the  Scriptures,  the  observance  of 
the  ordinances  as  given  to  us,  the  church  as  God’s  instrument 
to  bring  in  the  kingdom.  His  reading  and  experiences  broad¬ 
ened  his  horizon  and  modified  some  of  his  early  opinions  and 
views,  but  they  did  not  affect  the  fundamentals.  He  kept  his 
mind  open  to  truth  from  all  sources;  he  was  a  forward- 
looking  man ;  in  the  best  sense  he  was  a  modern  man ;  but 
he  was  as  loyal  to  the  faith  once  for  all  delivered  to  the  saints 
as  any  of  his  illustrious  teachers  in  the  College  of  the  Bible. 
As  the  end  approached  he  could  make  Paul’s  words  his  own, 
‘  ‘  I  have  fought  the  good  fight ;  I  have  finished  the  course ;  I 
have  kept  the  faith.” 

Mr.  Rains  loved  the  Lord  and  the  Lord’s  house  and  the 
Lord’s  people  and  the  Lord’s  day.  He  loved  the  church,  he 


332 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


honored  the  church,  he  supported  the  church.  As  long  as  he 
was  able  he  attended  the  morning  service,  the  evening  service 
and  the  midweek  service.  He  was  ever  the  staunch  and  loyal 
friend  of  the  minister  in  charge.  Mr.  Rains  was  a  man  of 
faith  and  prayer.  He  read  the  Bible  and  guided  his  life  and 
conduct  by  its  teaching.  One  of  the  last  things  that  he  asked 
for  was  his  Bible.  Because  of  the  “mortal  mist”  that  cov¬ 
ered  his  eyes  he  could  not  read  a  word  of  it,  but  it  was  a  sat¬ 
isfaction  to  handle  the  Book  of  God,  the  Book  whose  teachings 
had  made  him  wise  unto  salvation  through  faith  in  Christ 
J esus,  the  Book  he  had  read  and  preached  for  so  many  years, 
the  Book  whose  precepts  were  more  precious  to  him  than  gold, 
yea,  than  much  fine  gold,  that  were  sweeter  than  honey  and 
the  honeycomb.  He  fondled  and  caressed  the  Holy  Book  as 
lovingly  as  he  did  his  little  grandchild  a  few  days  before. 

Honor  and  love  and  the  good  repute  that  follows  faithful 
service  as  its  fruit,  were  his  portion.  He  was  loved  and  he 
loved  in  return.  He  was  proud  of  the  religious  people  of 
which  he  was  a  member.  He  rejoiced  in  the  principles  for 
which  they  stood,  and  believed  in  their  ultimate  triumph.  A 
week  before  his  translation,  when  speaking  was  difficult,  he 
kept  murmuring  the  phrase,  1 1 1  love  the  brethren,  ’  ’  and  after 
a  pause,  he  added,  “with  an  unceasing  love.”  That  was  his 
thought  as  the  splendors  of  eternity  fell  upon  him  thick  and 
fast  and  he  caught  glimpses  of  the  King  in  his  beauty.  He 
loved  the  missionaries  and  wore  himself  out  in  his  efforts  to 
provide  them  the  equipment  they  needed  for  the  most  suc¬ 
cessful  prosecution  of  their  work.  All  through  his  life  he 
loved  our  ministers  and  maintained  that  they  constituted  the 
finest  body  of  preachers  in  the  world.  He  had  been  in  hun¬ 
dreds  of  their  homes  and  he  spoke  what  he  believed  to  be 
God’s  truth  concerning  them. 

Measured  by  the  calendar  Mr.  Rains  was  comparatively  a 
young  man;  measured  by  his  achievements  he  lived  longer 
than  the  oldest  of  the  Patriarchs.  He  was  eager  to  live  on 
and  to  assist  in  the  work  of  the  society ;  at  the  same  time  he 
realized  that  he  was  in  God ’s  hands  and  that  God  knew  what 
is  best.  At  noon  on  Friday,  October  24,  1919,  God  called  him, 
and  like  Valiant-for-truth  in  Bunyan’s  immortal  allegory,  he 
passed  over  and  all  the  trumpets  sounded  for  him  on  the 
other  side. 

If  among  the  Disciples  of  Christ  there  was  a  Westminster 


LETTERS  TO  FRIENDS 


333 


Abbey  or  a  Pantheon  or  a  Hall  of  Fame,  undoubtedly  Francis 
Marion  Rains  would  be  assigned  a  place  of  highest  honor  in 
it,  a  place  among  the  kings.  We  have  no  royal  sepulchers. 
How  then  can  we  show  our  regard  for  this  heroic  servant  of 
the  King,  this  mighty  missionary  leader?  We  shall  deposit 
his  wasted  form  in  beautiful  Spring  Grove  Cemetery  beside 
those  whom  he  loved  long  since  and  lost  a  while;  and  we 
shall  enshrine  him  in  our  hearts  and  keep  him  there  till  the 
walls  thereof  shall  moulder  and  crumble  to  dust  away,  be¬ 
cause  he  did  good  in  Israel,  both  toward  God  and  toward  his 
house. 

Regarding  Mr.  Rains’  death  Mr.  McLean  wrote  to 
many  friends.  These  seven  letters  are  typical  of  all. 

A.  C.  Gray,  Eureka,  Illinois — You  lament  with  us  the  loss 
of  Mr.  Rains.  He  was  a  true  man  and  genial  soul.  We  miss 
him  and  will  continue  to  miss  him  more  and  more  as  time 
goes  on.  He  was  completely  worn  out.  He  died  not  from 
any  disease  but  from  sheer  exhaustion.  His  work  was  done 
and  well  done,  and  he  has  gone  to  his  reward.  No  man  of  his 
time  served  the  kingdom  better  than  he  did.  His  whole  heart 
and  soul  were  in  the  work.  Had  he  spared  himself  he  might 
have  lived  longer,  but  perhaps  would  not  have  accomplished 
more  in  the  long  run. 

E.  B.  Barnes,  Cleveland,  Ohio — The  rain  poured  down  in 
torrents  all  forenoon.  About  noon  the  rain  ceased.  The 
afternoon  was  clear  and  bright.  At  the  time  of  the  interment 
the  sun  was  shining.  The  brightness  of  the  hour  reminded 
me  of  the  brightness  of  the  spirit  of  the  man  whose  body  was 
laid  to  rest. 

Finis  Idleman,  New  York — We  buried  Mr.  Rains  on  Mon¬ 
day.  He  was  not  here  much  of  late,  but  we  knew  he  was  not 
far  away.  Now  he  is  gone  for  good,  and  we  will  be  lonely 
without  him.  It  will  be  a  long  time  before  we  see  his  equal 
in  his  own  field. 

Garnet  Alcorn,  Fulton,  Missouri. — Your  suggestion  with 
respect  to  Mr.  Rains  is  one  that  will  be  carefully  considered. 
I  very  much  wish  that  what  you  suggest  might  be  done,  and 
that  a  perpetual  memorial  may  be  established,  thus  keeping 
his  memory  green  for  time  to  come. 

Peter  Ainslie,  Baltimore,  Maryland — Brother  Rains  has 


334 


ARCHIBALD  MoLEAN 


gone  from  us  and  we  are  lonely  without  him.  He  clid  a  great 
work  for  our  people  and  his  memory  should  be  held  in  grate¬ 
ful  and  everlasting  remembrance. 

Mrs.  Ella  G.  Morrison,  Monterey,  California — With  respect 
to  Mr.  Rains,  he  thought  he  was  improving,  but  he  was  mis¬ 
taken.  He  was  going  down  gradually  and  imperceptibly.  He 
did  not  suffer  pain,  but  he  was  weak.  He  had  no  disease. 
He  died  from  sheer  exhaustion.  He  wore  himself  out  in  the 
service  of  the  society.  We  miss  him  here  very  much.  We  are 
lonely  without  him.  He  was  always  so  cheerful  and  jubilant 
and  hopeful.  The  world  is  different  since  he  left  us. 

G.  W.  Brown,  Lexington,  Kentucky — I  thank  you  for  the 

sympathy  which  you  and  Mrs.  Brown  express.  Mr.  Rains  was 
a  true  man  and  a  true  yokefellow.  Of  course  we  shall  miss 
him.  It  will  be  a  long  time  before  we  shall  see  his  equal.  We 
are  lonely  without  him. 

The  following  letter  is  of  twofold  interest.  He  was 
honoring  two  departed  comrades,  but  his  face  was 
toward  the  future  and  his  hands  were  full  of  work. 

St.  Louis,  Missouri,  November  12,  1920. 

Dear  Mrs.  Rains  : 

Please  tell  me  what  books  by  Isaac  Errett  you  have  in  your 
library.  I  have  been  looking  for  his  book  entitled  Linsey- 
Woolsey  and  Other  Addresses.  The  Standard  Publishing 
Company  say  the  work  is  out  of  print.  If  you  have  it,  would 
you  sell  it  or  loan  it  to  me?  Please  tell  me  what  other  mis¬ 
sionary  books  you  have,  aside  from  the  Intelligencer. 

When  I  called  at  your  home  before  leaving  Cincinnati  it 
was  to  express  my  gratitude  to  you  for  all  your  hospitality 
and  kindness.  You  and  Mr.  Rains  were  more  to  me  than  any 
other  two  people  in  Cincinnati.  Your  home  was  the  only 
home  I  visited  regularly.  The  world  is  different  to  you  since 
Mx.  Rains  answered  the  home-call.  The  world  is  different 
to  me  too.  On  his  account  and  on  your  account  I  shall  always 
be  interested  in  you,  and  shall  always  wish  you  all  the  best 
things  in  life.  If  I  had  had  an  opportunity  I  would  have  told 
you  this  while  you  were  in  St.  Louis. 

God  love  you  and  prosper  you  always  and  in  all  things. 

Very  truly  yours, 


A.  McLean. 


LIFE-AND-DEATH  UNION 


335 


Mere  association  in  any  work  for  twenty-six  years 
would  bind  together  any  two  sincere  men.  But  here 
were  two  extraordinary  personalities  consecrated  with 
unmeasured  devotion  to  what  each  of  them  considered 
the  supreme  task  of  the  ages.  At  the  same  time  each 
saw  in  the  other  from  their  first  acquaintance,  and  in¬ 
creasingly  through  the  years,  talents  which  he  was 
conscious  of  lacking  himself  but  which  he  knew  to  be 
indispensable  in  their  joint  enterprise.  Not  only  so, 
but  that  each  possessed  these  individual  powers  in  a 
greater  degree  than  any  other  man  of  their  wide  ac¬ 
quaintance,  was  a  continual,  gratifying  and  endearing 
revelation  to  his  partner.  Furthermore,  theirs  was  a 
human  and  divine  work ;  they  were  under  God ’s  orders 
and  directions  and  they  were  dealing  constantly  with 
men  and  women.  Inevitably  many  of  those  whose  co¬ 
operation  they  sought  not  only  withheld  their  help  but 
opposed  the  enterprise.  Again  and  again,  from  first 
to  last,  one  or  the  other  or  both,  had  to  endure  the 
grossest  misrepresentation.  Always  they  suffered  to¬ 
gether.  On  the  other  hand  every  day  brought  its  re¬ 
ports  of  victory  both  in  the  addition  of  converts  to 
Christ  on  the  distant  fields  and  in  the  multiplication  of 
the  society’s  friends  in  the  homeland.  They  wept 
together  when  fellow  workers  in  their  world-wide  fel¬ 
lowship  died  at  their  posts;  they  rejoiced  together 
when  increasing  numbers  of  the  finest  young  men  and 
women  of  the  churches  accepted  in  full  the  Savior’s 
great  commission.  Thus  the  partnership  of  consecra¬ 
tion  which  knit  these  two  strong  men  together  not  only 
blessed  their  lives  and  advanced  the  Kingdom  of  God, 
but  also  enriched  the  souls  of  all  who  had  the  chance 
to  know  and  the  grace  to  understand  their  life-and- 
death  union. 


CHAPTER  XXV 


COMRADES  OF  THE  WAY 

OFFICERS  OF  THE  FOREIGN  SOCIETY — LETTER  TO  S.  J.  COREY — QUOTATION 

FROM  COREY — WILSON'S  REMINISCENCES — JEWELS  AND  AUCTIONS - LUCY 

KING  DEMOSS — KAMPE,  COLSHER  AND  THE  OFFICE — DR.  KILGOUR — DR.  EARNEST 

- LETTER  TO  PRESIDENT  PAUL - LETTER  TO  MUCKLEY — FELLOWSHIP  WITH 

THE  OFFICERS  OF  ALL  THE  BOARDS — YOCUM'S  RECOLLECTIONS — LETTER  TO  A- 
E.  CORY TO  MRS.  CORY — TO  R.  A.  DOAN — S.  M.  COOPER — B.  L.  SMITH — EF¬ 
FECTS  OF  CLOSE  ASSOCIATION. 

1VT  OT  only  in  the  preceding  chapter  but  several  times 
*  elsewhere  this  narrative  has  dwelt  upon  the  inti¬ 
mate  fellowship  in  which  Mr.  McLean  and  Mr.  Rains 
worked  for  twenty-six  years,  but  it  has  mentioned  only 
casually  their  younger  comrades  in  the  service.  These 
thei  older  men  chose  carefully  because  of  their  demon¬ 
strated  fitness  for  the  work,  and  then  trusted  and 
loved  with  the  finest  brotherliness.  Each  brought  a 
new  element  of  strength  into  the  organization  and  his 
seniors  gave  him  every  opportunity  to  exercise  his  gift 
to  the  fullest.  This  is  true  not  only  of  those  who  were 
in  the  work  to  the  end,  but  applies  also  to  several  men 
who  were  associated  with  them  for  shorter  periods: 

E.  W.  Allen,  who  was  secretary  in  1909  and  1910;  B. 

F.  Clay  and  H.  D.  Smith,  each  of  whom  was  western 
secretary  with  headquarters  at  Kansas  City  for  a 
period;  and  Justin  N.  Green,  who  was  associate  secre¬ 
tary  for  a  while  and  then,  in  connection  with  his  pas¬ 
torate,  recorder  without  salary  for  ten  years.  The 
business  men :  AY.  S.  Dickinson,  S.  M.  Cooper  and  M. 
Y.  Cooper,  who  each  served  as  treasurer,  were  a  paid 
of  the  fellowship.  Dr.  P.  T.  Kilgour  who  had  charge 
of  the  office  during  Mr.  McLean’s  absence  as  president 

33C 


FOREIGN  SOCIETY  OFFICERS 


337 


of  Bethany  College,  and  who  later  served  as  medical 
examiner,  was  of  the  inner  circle.  During  the  World 
War,  J.  B.  Earnest  and  Rodney  L.  McQuary  came  into 
the  work,  but  each  enlisted  as  a  chaplain,  one  in  the 
navy  and  the  other  in  the  army,  when  the  United 
States  entered  the  conflict. 

Of  the  men  who  remained  in  the  work  to  the  last,  C. 
W.  Plopper  came  in  1900  as  bookkeeper.  The  society 
recognized  his  unusual  ability,  fidelity  and  industry 
by  laying  additional  responsibility  upon  him  until  in 
1910  he  became  its  treasurer.  In  addition  to  his  work 
as  treasurer,  for  a  number  of  years  he  conducted  the 
correspondence  with  the  Christian  Endeavor  societies, 
whose  offerings  increased  until  they  finally  amounted 
to  $21,144.08  per  year.  In  the  United  Society  the  po¬ 
sition  of  treasurer  came  naturally  to  him. 

Stephen  J.  Corey  came  to  the  Foreign  Society  in 
1905  after  demonstrating  his  secretarial  ability  with 
the  New  York  Christian  Missionary  Society.  He  grew 
rapidly  in  the  esteem  of  the  brotherhood  as  well  as 
of  his  associates  and  was  soon  recognized  as  a  leader 
in  international  and  interdenominational  councils,  as 
well  as  among  his  own  people.  After  the  death  of  Mr. 
McLean  he  succeeded  him  as  vice-president  of  the 
United  Society. 

A.  E.  Cory’s  fellow  missionaries  in  China  sent  him 
to  Cincinnati  to  lead  what  became  the  Million  Dollar 
Campaign.  Before  that  was  completed  the  Men  and 
Millions  Movement  developed  and  claimed  him  as  its 
secretary.  Later  he  was  head  of  the  field  department 
of  the  Interchurch  World  Movement,  and  then  a  secre¬ 
tary  of  the  United  Society.  He  resigned  in  1922  to 
become  pastor  of  the  church  at  Kinston,  North  Caro¬ 
lina. 

R.  A.  Doan  is  a  brick  manufacturer  of  Nelson- 
ville,  Ohio,  whose  teaching  of  a  great  men’s  Bible  class 


338 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


grew  so  upon  his  hands  and  his  heart  that  he  finally 
decided  to  turn  the  conduct  of  his  business  interests 
over  to  other  hands  and  give  his  entire  time,  without 
pay,  to  the  work  of  the  kingdom.  After  the  larger 
part  of  a  year  spent  with  Mrs.  Doan  and  their  son 
Austin,  visiting  the  oriental  mission  fields,  he  accepted 
a  secretaryship  in  1915.  This  he  resigned  at  the  end 
of  1921.  He  is  now  in  the  Orient  helping  in  a  thorough 
survey  of  the  United  Society’s  fields. 

Bert  Wilson  did  conspicuous  work  in  connection  with 
the  Men  and  Religion  Forward  Movement  in  Ne¬ 
braska.  His  first  work  with  the  society  was  as  western 
secretary  at  Kansas  City.  He  came  to  the  Cincinnati 
office  in  1917.  In  the  United  Society  he  was  made 
chairman  of  the  promotional  division. 

C.  M.  Yocum,  with  whom  Mr.  McLean  had  become 
intimately  acquainted  while  he  was  pastor  of  the  Cen¬ 
tral  Church  in  Cincinnati  in  1909-1911,  succeeded  Bert 
Wilson  in  Kansas  City  in  1917  and  followed  him  to 
Cincinnati  in  1918.  In  the  United  Society  he  has  been 
claimed  by  three  departments,  the  foreign  finally  pre¬ 
vailing. 

Mr.  McLean’s  relationship  with  these  comrades,  the 
high  esteem  in  which  he  held  them  and  the  great  affec¬ 
tion  that  he  entertained  for  them,  are  best  revealed  by 
some  of  his  letters  to  them.  It  will  be  noted  that  Mr. 
McLean  speaks  of  the  Foreign  Society’s  offices  as  “the 
Rooms.”  He  had  his  own  title  also  for  each  of  his 
comrades.  They  in  turn  called  him  “Bishop.” 

(To  S.  J.  Corey  in  Europe  after  visiting  the  Congo  field 
in  Africa.) 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  September  12,  1912. 
My  dear  Brother  Corey: 

We  shall  be  pleased  to  see  your  good  face  when  you  re¬ 
turn  to  the  Rooms.  We  are  lonely  without  you.  We  need 
you.  You  must  not  go  away  again  soon  and  stay  so  long. 


S.  J.  COREY  339 

We  are  pegging  away;  but  we  need  your  wisdom  and  en¬ 
ergy  and  enthusiasm. 

God  is  good  and  is  doing  good.  Abram  feels  sure  that 
he  has  secured  more  than  half  the  amount  he  is  after.  His 
trip  to  the  (Pacific)  Coast  was  a  great  triumph.  He  accom¬ 
plished  far  more  than  he  or  we  had  dared  to  expect.  He 
will  have  a  marvelous  story  to  tell  at  Louisville. 

Mr.  Rains  and  the  Professor  (Mr.  Plopper)  are  in  great 
spirits  today.  The  first  twelve  days  of  the  month  yielded 
nearly  three  times  as  much  as  the  same  period  last  year. 
If  we  can  keep  on  at  this  rate,  or  even  do  as  well  the  days 
of  the  month  that  remain  as  we  did  last  year,  we  shall  have 
a  modern  miracle  to  rejoice  over.  It  was  never  so  easy  be¬ 
fore  for  me  to  believe  in  miracles. 

Hopkins  has  been  hurt  and  has  been  in  bed  for  two  or 
three  weeks.  He  was  thrown  from  a  buggy  and  over  a 
barbed  wire  fence  and  torn  more  or  less.  He  expected  to  be 
in  the  office  today ;  I  have  not  heard  of  his  arrival. 

We  have  things  in  pretty  good  shape  for  the  convention 
(at  Louisville,  Kentucky).  The  report  is  being  printed. 
The  bulk  of  the  work  on  it  has  been  done.  Mr.  Rains  is 
working  at  the  churches,  and  I  am  at  work  on  the  report. 

I  presume  you  are  going  to  Russia  to  see  the  brethren 
there.  If  so  you  will  not  be  at  home  quite  as  soon  as  you  had 
anticipated.  You  are  expected  in  Russia. 

Your  report  of  the  work  at  Bolenge  has  been  read  with 
the  greatest  interest.  It  is  a  wonderful  story.  God  is  doing 
great  things  today  as  he  did  in  the  olden  time  and  far 
greater  things,  as  it  seems  to  me. 

The  Lord  prosper  you  and  bring  you  home  in  peace  and 
safety.  I  wish  you  every  good  thing. 

Affectionately  yours, 

A.  McLean. 

Of  course  much  of  the  information  in  this  volume 
has  come  from  these  intimate  associates  of  Mr. 
McLean.  No  attempt  has  been  made  to  indicate  the 
source  of  most  of  this  material.  At  this  point,  how¬ 
ever,  it  seems  worth  while  to  add  the  following  direct 
quotations  from  Stephen  J.  Corey: 


340 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Mr.  McLean  was  a  very  broad-minded  man.  I  do  not 
mean  by  that  that  he  was  radical  in  his  theological  belief. 
Indeed,  he  was  one  whom  you  might  call  an  open-minded 
conservative.  His  breadth  was  in  his  sympathy  both  to¬ 
wards  men  who  disagreed  with  him  and  towards  ideas  which 
he  could  not  himself  quite  accept.  He  included  in  his  cen¬ 
sus  of  his  brethren  all  who  love  Christ.  He  believed  that  God 
has  a  place  for  both  liberal  and  conservative.  He  honored 
both.  One  kept  us  from  going  too  slow,  the  other  kept  us 
from  going  too  fast.  His  mind  was  always  open  to  the  think¬ 
ing  of  any  conscientious  man  and  he  had  far  more  sympathy 
for  a  sincere  Socrates  than  for  an  insincere  Christian  leader 
who  proclaimed  his  loyalty  abroad. 

One  of  the  most  tender  and  helpful  contacts  with  Mr. 
McLean  was  through  his  little  personal  letters  written  by  his 
own  hand.  He  never  wore  his  heart  on  his  sleeve  and  it  was 
difficult  for  him  to  give  a  strong  compliment  to  a  friend  in 
any  way  personally  except  with  a  look  or  a  kindly  pat  on  the 
shoulder.  However,  his  personal  letters  were  beautiful  in 
their  expression  of  affection.  He  always  wrote  these  with  his 
own  hand  and  usually  when  away  on  some  journey.  These 
tender  little  missives  of  love  and  appreciation  are  cherished 
with  reverence  by  his  associates  to  whom  he  confided  in  this 
gentle  way  his  deep  regard  and  friendship. 

Mr.  McLean  was  a  spiritual  stabilizer  for  all  of  his  asso¬ 
ciates.  There  was  always  a  sense  of  spiritual  security  and 
poise  when  he  was  near.  He  was  very  human,  very  humor¬ 
ous  and  had  many  personal  peculiarities,  but  he  lived  in  tune 
with  the  Infinite.  His  quiet  life  of  prayer  and  deep  thought 
and  meditation  brought  to  all  of  his  associates  a  real  sense 
of  the  realities  of  religion. 

Out  of  Mr.  Wilson’s  great  fund  of  recollections  these 
will  be  read  with  interest : 

When  a  student  at  college,  I  preached  on  Sundays  at  Hum¬ 
boldt,  Nebraska.  Ever  since  I  had  known  Mr.  McLean  it 
had  been  my  earnest  desire  to  have  him  spend  a  Sunday  in 
Humboldt,  that  the  people  might  hear  his  great  messages  and 
catch  his  wonderful  spirit.  He  did  not  want  to  go  to  such  a 
small  church,  but  “  because  of  my  importunity ’  *  he  finally 
came.  In  announcing  his  coming,  I  told  the  church  that  if 
it  were  a  choice  between  President  A.  McLean  of  the  Foreign 


BERT  WILSON 


341 


Society  and  President  Roosevelt  of  the  United  States,  my 
choice  would  be  for  President  McLean  to  come.  It  was  a  cold, 
snowy  day  in  January  and  the  roads  had  thawed  and  frozen 
up  again,  so  that  they  were  very  rough.  People  drove  in  for 
six  miles  to  hear  him.  The  church  was  crowded  to  its  utmost 
capacity  and  Mr.  McLean  stirred  my  own  heart  and  the  whole 
church  as  they  had  never  been  stirred  before. 

Mr.  McLean  held  two  or  three  missionary  rallies  at  Cotner 
during  my  college  days.  On  one  occasion  we  invited  him  to 
eat  dinner  in  our  home  only  a  block  away  from  the  church. 
My  nephew,  a  boy  about  sixteen,  was  taking  work  in  college 
and  Mr.  McLean  talked  to  him  and  asked  him  all  about  what 
he  expected  to  do  in  the  future.  Years  afterwards,  Mr. 
McLean  inquired  how  “Ray”  was  getting  along,  “who  lived 
with  you  out  at  Cotner.” 

While  Mr.  McLean  was  a  very  busy  man  he  sometimes  got 
very  lonesome.  Many  times  he  worked  in  the  mission  rooms 
on  Saturday  afternoon  when  everybody  else  was  gone.  On 
one  occasion  I  was  working  also,  when  he  came  into  my  room 
and  requested  that  I  go  shopping  with  him.  I  went,  and 
what  was  my  surprise  to  find  that  all  he  was  to  buy  was  a 
lamp  globe.  Mr.  McLean  always  used  a  kerosene  lamp  by 
which  he  studied.  There  was  electricity  in  the  building  in 
which  he  lived,  but  he  never  had  his  rooms  connected.  He 
seemed  to  prefer  to  read  by  a  large  lamp.  We  went  to  one 
shop  and  found  that  a  twenty-five-cent  globe  was  the  cheapest 
they  had.  He  walked  out  and  went  to  another  shop  nearby 
where  he  found  the  kind  of  globe  he  wanted  and  got  it  for 
ten  cents.  I  told  him  that  the  twenty-five-cent  globe  was  the 
non-breakable  kind  and  would  last  three  times  as  long  as  the 
ten-cent  one.  He  replied  in  his  characteristic  way,  “Not  if  I 
don’t  break  the  ten-cent  one.” 

Mrs.  Wilson  and  our  eight  girls  were  always  greatly  pleased 
to  have  Mr.  McLean  come  to  our  house.  He  often  played  cro¬ 
quet  with  the  girls  and  was  a  pretty  good  shot  at  that.  He 
loved  to  talk  with  the  children. 

I  always  got  inspiration  and  help  from  Mr.  McLean  when  I 
went  into  his  room  to  talk  over  my  problems  with  him.  Now 
and  then  some  difficult  problem  would  come  up  and  when 
I  went  in  to  see  him  we  did  not  always  talk  about  the  thing 
I  had  gone  in  to  talk  about,  but  his  great  outlook  on  life,  his 
supreme  optimism,  his  unbounded  faith  and  his  Christian 


342 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


integrity  and  sterling  manhood,  always  seemed  to  give  me  the 
answer  that  I  needed. 

One  by  one  Mr.  McLean’s  associates  discovered  that 
he  was  a  lover  of  gems,  jewels  and  ornaments.  Of 
course  he  would  not  be  so  extravagant  as  to  purchase 
anything  of  the  sort  for  himself,  nor  would  he  use 
or  wear  them,  but  he  found  delight  in  presenting  them 
to  his  friends.  Those  he  purchased  in  his  travels 
abroad  and  brought  home  as  souvenirs  promptly  found 
their  wav  into  the  hands  and  homes  of  his  ever-widen- 

4/ 

ing  circle  of  intimates. 

An  interesting  touch  of  his  humanness  appeared  in 
the  fact  that  auctions  seemed  to  hold  an  irresistible 
attraction  for  him.  It  was  as  hard  for  him  to  pass 
a  store  where  an  auction  flag  was  displayed,  as  it  was 
to  refuse  to  give  something  to  a  beggar  on  the  street. 
That  he  did  not  attend  the  auction  as  a  mere  curious 
spectator  is  evidenced  by  the  promiscuous  purchases 
which  he  made.  Many  of  the  pieces  of  cut  glass  and 
silverware  and  various  other  gifts  that  went  to  his 
friends  he  had  captured  in  the  exciting  contests  of  the 
auction  room.  Maybe  the  primitive  instinct  of  the 
Highlander  for  the  chase,  being  denied  its  normal  ex¬ 
pression,  asserted  itself  in  this  way. 

One  of  the  most  efficient  and  indispensable  members 
of  the  organization  was  Miss  Lucy  King  De  Moss. 
She  compiled  the  Children’s  Day  exercises,  repre¬ 
sented  the  society  in  the  joint  preparation  of  mission- 
study  courses  for  the  Sunday  schools,  and  prepared 
missionary  pageants.  One  duty  after  another  attached 
itself  to  her  until  finally  she  had  the  general  oversight 
of  all  the  society’s  publications.  Every  November  she 
helped  Mr.  McLean  select  Christmas  presents  for  the 
friends  all  around  the  world  whom  he  wished  to  re¬ 
member,  and  especially  for  the  children.  The  last  year 


THE  OFFICE  FAMILY 


343 


they  had  made  these  purchases  before  he  went  to 
Battle  Creek.  He  had  dispatched  the  packages  for  the 
foreign  field  and  held  the  rest  at  the  office  to  send  out 
just  before  Christmas.  He  expected  to  be  back  in  time 
to  attend  to  this  personally,  but  several  times  before 
he  left  he  cautioned  Mr.  Colsher,  who  with  other  duties 
was  superintending  the  shipping  department,  to  be 
sure  that  they  got  off  on  time.  His  instructions  were 
faithfully  carried  out  and  his  friends  received  the 
gifts  with  double  appreciation. 

The  number  of  people  in  the  Foreign  Society’s  office 
had  finally  come  to  be  about  twenty,  with  special  re¬ 
sponsibilities  resting  upon  E.  C.  Kampe  and  William 
H.  Colsher.  Mr.  McLean  looked  upon  them  all  as 
forming  a  sort  of  family  group.  Just  before  noon  each 
day  they  assembled  for  a  brief  devotional  sendee  of 
Scripture  and  prayer  and  song.  When  he  returned 
from  a  trip  he  showed  his  personal  interest  in  each  one 
and  his  pleasure  at  being  home  again  by  going  around 
and  shaking  hands  with  everybody. 

The  two  letters  which  follow  from  two  former 
stenographers  illustrate  the  statements  above. 

Dolgeville,  New  York,  October,  1919. 
Dear  Brother  McLean : 

I  want  to  tell  you  again,  Mr.  McLean,  of  the  pleasure 
which  I  found  in  my  work  with  you.  I  know  that  my  asso¬ 
ciation  with  you  has  greatly  enriched  my  life,  and  has 
strengthened  me  in  my  efforts  to  live  in  accordance  with  the 
wishes  of  Christ.  I  have  failed  so  often  to  measure  up  to  the 
perfect  life  but  I  am  striving  to  improve,  and  feel  that  I  am 
now  being  led  by  the  Father  in  the  right  direction.  I  have 
had  your  blessing;  may  I  not  have  your  prayers,  too? 

Minna  Eckert. 

Los  Angeles,  California,  September  12,  1921. 

It  was  always  a  marvel  to  me  how  Brother  McLean  remem¬ 
bered  so  many  hundreds  of  people,  even  carrying  in  his  mind 
the  name  of  every  little  child  of  his  acquaintance.  The  first 


344 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


time  he  met  me  in  Los  Angeles  after  my  marriage  he  in¬ 
stantly  called  me  by  my  new  name  and  asked  if  I  was  now 
taking  or  giving  dictation. 

When  I  first  came  to  Los  Angeles  I  found  to  my  surprise 
that  he  had  written  to  several  of  his  friends  here  about  me, 
and  as  a  result  a  good  position  was  awaiting  me  and  some 
warm  friends  who  helped  me  to  tide  over  the  first  homesick¬ 
ness. 

He  never  came  to  Los  Angeles  without  looking  me  up.  The 
very  last  trip  he  made  here  I  had  told  him  that  I  would  be  at 
a  certain  church  on  Sunday  morning  to  hear  him  speak,  but 
found  it  inconvenient  to  do  so  on  account  of  my  work  in  our 
local  Sunday  school.  I  told  him  of  this  as  I  bade  him  good- 
by  at  the  convention  on  Saturday.  “That  is  right,  child, 
stay  on  the  job,  ’  ’  he  said.  Those  were  his  last  words  to  me. 

In  all  my  years  in  the  business  world  I  never  worked  for 
another  man  who  took  such  a  deep  personal  interest  in  me 
and  my  affairs,  and  when  you  realize  that  he  was  just  as 
deeply  interested  in  everyone  with  whom  he  came  in  contact 
it  was  truly  wonderful. 

Every  Christmas  up  until  I  married,  brought  some  token 
of  remembrance  from  him,  generally  one  of  his  recent  books. 

Lou  Lou  Coombs  Murray. 

Following  the  death  of  Dr.  Kilgour,  Mr.  McLean 
wrote  several  letters  to  the  doctor’s  sisters,  Misses 
Annie  and  Mary  Martha.  Let  ns  preface  one  with  this 
quotation  from  a  letter  of  Miss  Mary  Martha  written 
from  Baltimore,  Maryland,  May  18,  1921. 

What  can  we  say?  Beautiful  and  true  things  have  been 
said  of  Mr.  McLean,  yet  the  half  has  not  been  told  of  this 
spiritual  and  intellectual  giant,  with  the  reserve  and  heart 
of  a  child.  We  were  privileged  to  know  the  great  man, 
chiefly  through  our  brother,  Dr.  P.  T.  Kilgour,  whose  home 
was  our  home  from  August,  1893,  until  his  sudden  death 
April  24,  1918. 

During  the  years  Mr.  McLean  was  a  frequent  and  honored 
guest  in  our  home.  Never  was  there  such  a  guest.  Never  a 
dull  moment  from  his  entrance;  his  silences  were  eloquent. 
Often  he  seemed  weighed  down  by  the  cares  of  his  great 
enterprise,  but  how  quick  he  was  to  respond  to  the  gayety 


DR.  KILGOUR 


345 


of  the  home  and  the  fun  of  the  little  boys.  Such  a  punctilious 
gentleman  in  the  home  that  everyone  came  under  the  charm 
of  his  personality.  His  wit,  his  love  of  nature  and  all  that 
was  fine  in  literature,  added  to  his  ardor  for  the  salvation 
of  the  world,  made  one  marvel  at  his  many-sidedness. 

Although  well  concealed,  we  felt  he  was  a  true  Highlander, 
so  shy,  proud  and  loyal,  with  the  fire  and  fervor  and  pro¬ 
phetic  vision  that  belongs  to  the  Celtic  race. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  October  27,  1918. 

My  dear  Miss  Martha : 

I  should  have  acknowledged  the  receipt  of  your  gracious 
letter  long  ago.  When  it  came,  I  was  preparing  for  the  con¬ 
vention.  Since  the  time  for  the  convention,  I  have  been  at 
work  on  the  annual  report.  The  preparation  of  the  report 
always  falls  to  me.  That  and  many  other  duties  engrossed 
my  time  and  energy. 

I  cannot  write  about  Dr.  Kilgour  as  I  feel.  He  was  a 
prince  among  men,  and  a  friend  whose  friendship  was  above 
all  price.  He  was  very  dear  to  me,  and  I  loved  him  as  a 
brother.  I  owed  him  much  for  his  care  of  me  when  ailing, 
and  most  of  all  for  keeping  me  well  and  strong  for  the  day’s 
work.  He  read  me  as  he  read  a  printed  page.  He  knew  at 
once  what  was  wrong  and  how  I  should  act  so  as  to  avoid 
pain  or  weakness.  I  shall  never  find  his  equal  in  that  regard. 
He  cheered  me  many  times  when  I  was  in  trouble.  He  be¬ 
lieved  in  me  and  made  me  believe  in  myself,  and  that  was  a 
mighty  help.  He  did  more  for  me  than  I  did  for  him.  I 
shall  always  feel  myself  his  debtor. 

You  and  Miss  Annie  and  the  children  give  me  more  honor 
than  I  deserve.  If  the  Doctor  had  been  in  my  place  and  I 
in  his,  he  would  have  done  all  I  did,  and  more.  If  what  I 
said  and  did  brought  you  and  your  dear  ones  any  comfort 
and  strength,  I  am  pleased  and  thankful. 

The  world  is  different  since  the  good  Doctor  left  us.  It 
will  never  be  the  same  again.  College  Hill  and  the  Mt. 
Healthy  Church  will  not  be  the  same.  What  hospitality  he 
and  Miss  Annie  dispensed !  How  they  ministered  to  a  weary 
visitor  and  sent  him  on  his  way  refreshed  and  rejoicing!  I 
have  never  been  in  a  more  delightful  home. 

Mr.  Armstrong  told  you  we  had  no  convention.  I  saw  him 
and  Dr.  Ainslie  for  a  few  minutes.  We  have  had  no  church 


346 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


service  this  month.  The  (influenza)  epidemic  is  less  severe 
than  it  was,  but  there  are  yet  many  deaths.  John  Koenig 
died  at  home  after  an  illness  of  three  days.  He  was  buried 
in  khaki.  I  was  at  the  funeral  and  had  a  part  in  it.  The 
Westwood  Methodist  Episcopal  minister  was  in  charge. 

Thus  far  no  one  in  the  Mission  Rooms  has  been  taken. 
Mr.  S.  J.  Corey  was  sick  a  week  or  two,  but  is  well  again  and 
at  work. 

Please  remember  me  kindly  to  Miss  Annie.  The  good  Lord 
bless  you  both  with  his  wondrous  grace.  I  wish  you  both  and 
all  dear  ones  all  the  best  things  in  life. 

Very  truly  yours, 

A.  McLean. 

This  letter  he  wrote  to  the  young  secretary  who  had 
become  a  chaplain  in  the  navy. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  December  7,  1918. 
Lieutenant  J.  B.  Earnest,  Ph.D., 

Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania. 

My  dear  Dr.  Earnest : 

Your  favor  of  the  9th  of  November  was  duly  received.  I 
trust  that  by  this  time  your  arms  have  recovered  from  the 
effect  of  the  vaccination  and  that  both  are  serviceable. 

It  seems  to  me  that  in  going  from  man  to  man  talking  to 
each  one  as  you  are  doing,  you  are  doing  a  most  Christ-like 
work.  These  young  men  need  sympathy  and  counsel,  and  you 
are  able  to  give  both.  You  cannot  touch  any  life  except  for 
good.  Your  influence  is  always  helpful.  Your  presence  among 
these  young  boys  is  a  great  blessing  to  them,  and  while  help¬ 
ing  them  you  are  deepening  your  own  spiritual  life  and  get¬ 
ting  a  firmer  grasp  upon  the  fundamentals  of  our  holy  re¬ 
ligion.  I  feel  that  the  experiences  that  you  are  getting  these 
days  will  be  invaluable  to  you  in  all  your  after  life.  You 
are  getting  a  knowledge  of  some  phases  of  human  life  that 
you  would  not  get  in  any  university  or  in  any  missionary 
society,  or  anywhere  else  in  the  world.  You  are  face  to  face 
with  life. 

Much  of  your  work  may  not  appear  to  be  religious  in  the 
technical  sense  of  the  word,  but  it  is  religious  nevertheless. 
All  work  done  for  Christ  and  in  the  spirit  of  Christ  is  reli¬ 
gious.  You  are  seeking  to  help  these  young  men,  and  this  is 
the  kind  of  work  that  Christ  did  while  he  was  here  in  flesh. 


J.  B.  EARNEST 


347 


You  are  remembered  here  in  the  office.  Our  thoughts  go 
out  to  you  and  to  Mrs.  Earnest  and  to  Katherine  French. 
Prayer  is  offered  for  you  and  for  them.  We  ask  that  you  may 
be  guided  and  kept  and  prospered  in  the  great  work  to  which 
the  Lord  has  called  you. 

On  yesterday  the  chaplain  of  the  Mississippi  called  to  see 
me.  His  ship  is  now  at  Hampton  Roads.  He  has  been  off 
duty  for  a  few  days.  He  is  one  of  our  brethren  and  has 
preached  in  Oklahoma.  You  may  meet  him  some  day.  His 
name  is  Lash.  He  told  me  many  things  about  his  position 
as  chaplain.  He  told  me  that  he  had  heard  of  you,  but  had 
not  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you  as  yet.  Perhaps  some 
day  you  will  meet  him.  You  will  find  him  a  very  pleasant 
gentleman. 

May  the  good  Lord  deal  well  with  you  and  your  dear  ones. 

With  every  good  wish,  I  remain, 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  McLean. 

The  next  letter  followed  the  appearance  of  a  little 
book  that  set  forth  graphically  the  need  of  mission¬ 
aries  in  all  the  foreign  fields  occupied  by  the  Disciples 
of  Christ. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  November  26,  1919. 
President  Charles  T.  Paul, 

College  of  Missions  Building, 

Indianapolis,  Indiana. 

My  dear  Brother  Paul : 

Somewhere  in  all  the  World  has  just  been  handed  me  by 
Alexander  Paul. 

I  consider  this  work  the  most  perfect  work  of  its  kind  that 
I  have  ever  seen.  The  good  Lord  be  praised  for  putting  it 
into  your  power  to  produce  such  a  work  as  this.  It  contains 
a  world  of  information,  and  just  the  kind  of  information 
that  would  be  most  illuminating  and  helpful  to  missionary 
candidates. 

I  cannot  thank  you  enough  for  what  you  have  done.  The 
good  Lord  deal  well  with  you  and  your  dear  ones  everywhere. 

With  all  good  wishes,  I  remain, 

Yours  very  truly, 


A.  McLean. 


348 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


He  expressed  fellowship  both  in  missionary  service 
and  in  patriotic  devotion  in  this  letter  to  the  Church 
Extension  secretary. 


Cincinnati,  Ohio,  August  23,  1918. 

George  W.  Muckley, 

Macatawa,  Michigan. 

My  dear  Brother  Muckley : 

I  see  that  your  three  boys  have  entered  the  war  service. 
It  shows  the  stuff  of  which  they  are  made.  I  trust  they  will 
come  back  to  you  alive  and  ennobled  by  their  experiences  as 
soldiers. 

A  nephew  of  mine  died  on  the  Western  Front  on  the  10th 
of  this  month.  He  was  captain  in  one  of  the  Canadian  regi¬ 
ments.  He  was  a  university  graduate  and  a  fine  fellow. 

I  should  be  glad  to  know  that  you  are  improving  in  health 
from  day  to  day.  I  trust  that  the  September  offering  may 
yield  you  a  larger  amount  than  any  previous  offering  in  the 
history  of  the  work  in  which  you  have  been  such  a  successful 
leader  for  so  many  years. 

May  the  Lord  deal  well  with  you  and  all  your  dear  ones. 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  McLean. 

Even  before  the  organization  of  the  United  Christian 
Missionary  Society  the  cooperation  of  the  several 
boards  had  become  so  intimate  and  constant,  their  offi¬ 
cers  were  thrown  together  so  frequently  in  state  and 
national  conventions  and  otherwise  that  the  sense  of 
comradeship  with  Mr.  McLean  went  beyond  the 
Foreign  Society  and  included  the  officers  of  all  the 
other  boards.  The  entire  group  frequently  attended 
the  meetings  of  the  Men  and  Millions  Movement,  and 
especially  the  conferences  preceding  and  following  the 
organization  of  the  United  Society.  Each  was  a  leader 
and  an  expert  in  his  own  field  and  the  peer  of  every 
other.  Here  Mr.  McLean  was  at  his  best ;  wise  in  coun¬ 
sel,  positive  in  conviction,  encyclopaedic  in  memory, 
instantaneous  and  incisive  in  repartee.  Frequently  his 


MUCKLEY  AND  YOCUM 


349 


Scots  wit  struck  fire  on  the  Irish  wit  of  Abe  Cory  in  a 
succession  of  brilliant  passes  which  the  rest  of  us 
admired,  as  spectators  do  the  flashes  of  a  tennis  ball 
back  and  forth  between  contenders  for  a  championship. 
These  passages  were  always  good  natured  and  illumi¬ 
nated  the  subject  under  discussion  as  much  as  they 
refreshed  the  bystanders. 

As  his  years  increased,  his  great  affection  for  his 
comrades  overcame  his  native  reticence  and  led  him 
to  express  his  love  more  directly  and  fully  than  he  had 
in  the  earlier  periods.  His  habit  of  rising  at  five 
o’clock  in  the  moitning  naturally  made  him  wake  at 
that  hour  when  he  was  on  the  train.  Occasionally 
when  one  of  the  other  men  was  occupying  a  berth  in 
the  same  car,  he  would  climb  out  of  his  own  upper 
berth  (he  always  insisted  that  the  upper  berth  was 
more  comfortable  as  well  as  more  economical  than  the 
lower)  and  get  into  bed  with  his  fellow  traveler.  At 
such  times  he  would  speak  frankly  of  his  love  for  his 
comrade,  which  otherwise  he  would  tell  only  in  writing 
or  by  implication. 

Several  sorts  of  revelation  are  contained  in  this 
story  told  by  Mr.  Yocum. 

An  all-day  meeting  of  the  committee  on  unification  had 
been  held  in  Indianapolis.  The  underlying  principles  of  the 
unification  of  the  six  missionary  and  benevolent  organiza¬ 
tions  had  been  wrought  out  previously,  and  at  this  particular 
meeting  the  entire  day  had  been  spent  in  considering  details. 
Everybody  had  worked  hard  but  little  seemed  to  be  accom¬ 
plished.  It  was  a  long,  tedious,  tiresome  day.  The  meeting 
closed  just  in  time  for  the  Cincinnati  contingent  to  catch  the 
last  train  home. 

Mr.  McLean  and  I  had  a  message  to  deliver  and  a  short 
conference  to  hold  with  Mrs.  David  Rioch  who,  with  her  little 
family,  was  sojourning  in  Indianapolis  near  Butler  College. 
This  duty  made  it  impossible  for  us  to  return  home  that 
night.  Mr.  McLean  was  greatly  disappointed.  He  was  well 
worn  and  was  anxious  to  get  back  to  Cincinnati. 


350 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


After  a  most  pleasant  visit  with  Mrs.  Rioch  we  left  the 
house  and  walked  leisurely  toward  the  car  line.  The  sun  was 
just  slipping  below  the  horizon  and  the  sky  was  aglow  with 
the  glorious  coloring  of  evening.  Everything  was  suggestive 
of  home  and  rest.  Imitating  the  voice  and  manner  of  a  little 
child,  Mr.  McLean  said,  “I  want  to  go  home.  I’m  homesick. 
I  want  my  mamma.  ’  ’ 

We  slept  together  that  night  in  the  Hotel  Edward.  Long 
before  day  I  awakened  to  find  him  on  his  knees  at  the  bed¬ 
side  in  prayer.  I  did  not  stir,  not  caring  to  disturb  him. 
For  a  long  time  he  continued  in  prayer  and  the  hour  I  spent 
there  silently  sharing  his  devotions  was  a  holy  hour.  More 
sacred  far  than  any  hour  spent  in  cloistered  temple  was  that 
hour  with  a  man  of  God  in  communion  with  his  Father. 

The  three  letters  which  follow  are  characteristic  of 
the  way  he  expressed  his  appreciation  of  his  associates 
and  their  devoted  service. 

(To  A.  E.  Cory  regarding  the  Million  Dollar  Campaign.) 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  May  5,  1913. 

My  dear  Brother  Cory  : 

You  may  remember  that  you  asked  me  to  write  a  note  of 
thanks  to  H.  0.  Pritchard  and  others  for  the  great  interest 
they  manifested  in  the  Million  Dollar  Campaign  when  you 
and  the  team  were  in  Lincoln.  Brother  Pritchard  writes  in 
reply  this :  “I  want  to  say  that  the  workers  blessed  us  much 
more  than  we  were  able  to  give  in  return.  While  Lincoln  did 
fairly  well,  she  received  much  more  than  she  gave.  I  feel 
our  churches  were  never  so  much  blessed  as  by  the  recent 
visit  of  the  team.”  Some  days  before,  I  received  the  same 
statement  about  your  visit  to  Elliott,  Iowa.  This  statement 
was  written  by  Morton  L.  Rose. 

Wherever  you  go  the  impression  is  the  same.  All  feel  that 
the  visit  of  the  team  has  been  a  great  blessing  and  a  great 
uplift  to  the  church.  This  must  be  a  matter  of  profound 
satisfaction  to  you.  You  are  doing  a  work  that  no  one  else 
has  ever  done  among  our  people  and  a  work,  I  think,  that 
no  one  else  could  do  so  effectively.  When  the  present  pro¬ 
gram  is  completed  you  will  have  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  our 
people  such  as  no  other  man,  living  or  dead,  has.  The  cam¬ 
paign  in  which  you  are  engaged  and  the  one  to  follow  will 


351 


A.  E.  CORY 

give  a  mighty  impetus  to  every  department  of  the  work  of 
the  Disciples  of  Christ.  Wherever  I  go  men  of  other  com¬ 
munions  ask  me  about  the  campaign.  They  are  watching  it 
with  profound  interest.  The  work  you  are  doing  will  help 
them  in  their  work.  You  have  abundant  reason  for  knowing 
that  you  are  not  only  helping  the  cause  that  our  own  people 
represent,  but  you  are  helping  the  cause  of  Christendom 
throughout  North  America.  I  think  there  is  no  man  in  our 
fellowship  who  has  so  much  reason  to  rejoice  these  days  as 
you  have.  There  is  no  man  among  us  who  has  before  him  a 
brighter  future  than  you  have.  When  you  are  here  we  are 
all  busy  and  we  have  not  time,  or  do  not  take  time  as  per¬ 
haps  we  might,  to  tell  you  these  things,  to  tell  you  how  much 
we  rejoice  over  what  you  are  doing.  But  we  do  not  forget 
you  night  or  morning  or  at  midday.  We  praise  God  for  you 
and  for  your  service.  For  myself,  I  never  speak  out  all  that 
I  feel  in  the  way  of  congratulation  or  commendation.  The 
Scotchman  does  not  wear  his  heart  on  his  sleeve  and  the 
things  that  he  feels  deepest  are  the  things  that  he  is  more  apt 
to  suppress  than  to  speak.  I  am  thankful  that  the  letters 
that  we  are  receiving  give  me  this  opportunity  of  writing  you 
what  I  could  not  say  to  you  face  to  face. 

The  Lord  abundantly  bless  you  and  your  family  and  the 
great  work. 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  McLean. 

» 

(To  Mrs.  A.  E.  Cory  after  the  successful  completion  of  the 
Men  and  Millions  Movement.  At  the  same  time  he  wrote  a 
similar  letter  to  Mrs.  R.  H.  Miller.) 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  May  15,  1918. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Cory: 

At  a  joint  meeting  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  Men 
and  Millions  Movement  and  the  college  presidents  held  in 
St.  Louis  two  weeks  ago  many  kind  things  were  said  about 
you  and  your  part  in  the  enterprise.  You  have  made  no 
address  in  any  set-up  meeting;  you  have  had  no  conspicuous 
part  in  the  movement ;  but  you  have  done  your  bit,  and  you 
are  as  deserving  of  honor  and  affection  as  your  husband,  the 
foremost  leader  in  the  movement.  You  have  cared  for  the 
home  and  the  children,  and  in  doing  that  you  have  made  it 


352 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


possible  for  him  to  be  away  the  greater  part  of  the  time  for 
the  past  four  years.  You  have  heartened  him  while  absent 
and  have  refreshed  him  in  body  and  in  spirit  while  at  home. 

It  was  said  of  one  woman  by  our  Lord  that  she  did  what 
she  could.  The  same  can  be  said  of  you.  You  have  played 
a  worthy  part  in  the  Men  and  Millions  Movement.  You  have 
been  a  heroine  in  the  years  in  which  Mr.  Cory  has  been  en¬ 
deavoring  to  raise  the  standard  of  giving  among  our  people 
and  to  enlist  a  thousand  new  workers  for  the  fields. 

The  world  has  heard  nothing  of  you;  your  picture  has  not 
appeared  in  any  paper;  but  God  knows  you  and  what  you 
have  done,  and  he  will  not  forget  your  patience  and  devo¬ 
tion  and  self-sacrifice.  Your  reward  is  sure  and  it  will  be  in 
proportion  to  your  service.  You  have  been  faithful,  and  you 
will  enter  the  joy  of  your  Lord.  There’ll  be  stars  in  your 
crown. 

I  was  instructed  to  write  you  and  tell  you  that  the  men 
and  women  who  are  leading  in  the  movement,  and  many  be¬ 
sides,  appreciate  what  you  have  done  and  are  doing  for  the 
glory  of  our  divine  Redeemer.  May  his  blessings  in  fullest 
measure  rest  on  you  and  on  your  husband  and  children  and 
on  all  whom  you  love  the  world  over. 

Most  truly  your  brother  in  Christ’s  service, 

A.  McLean. 

(To  R.  A.  Doan,  in  Japan  as  oriental  secretary  of  the 
Foreign  Society.) 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  April  17,  1920. 

My  dear  Robert: 

Your  gracious  letter  of  the  21st  of  March  reached  me  a  few 
days  ago.  The  Book  says  that  good  news  from  a  far  coun¬ 
try  is  like  cold  water  to  a  thirsty  soul.  Your  letter  did  me 
good  like  medicine.  It  cheered  and  heartened  me  in  a  time 
when  there  are  many  things  to  try  one’s  faith  and  patience. 
The  Lord  richly  reward  you  for  your  kind  thought  and  for 
your  confidence  and  affection.  Your  friendship  is  a  source 
of  joy  and  courage  and  energy.  It  is  much  to  have  the  good 
will  of  a  man  of  your  quality.  I  must  try  to  deserve  all  that 
you  have  written  concerning  me. 

This  is  Saturday  afternoon  and  I  am  here  alone  in  the 
Rooms. 


R.  A.  DOAN 


353 


Bert  left  India  for  home  on  the  14th.  He  asked  permis¬ 
sion  (of  the  British  authorities)  to  enter  Egypt  and  Pales¬ 
tine.  His  wife  thinks  he  has  been  granted  permission.  He 
hopes  to  cross  Europe  to  London  and  from  London  come  on 
home.  I  was  out  in  Norwood  two  weeks  ago.  The  girls  and 
their  mother  are  counting  the  days  till  they  see  Bert  in  the 
flesh.  It  is  a  question  whether  the  baby  will  recognize  him 
or  not.  The  others  all  speak  about  him  and  will  welcome  him 
when  he  appears  at  the  door. 

This  morning  we  had  a  cable  from  China  saying  that  Dr. 
Shelton  had  left  for  America.  You  will  have  heard  all  about 
his  experiences  and  condition  before  this  reaches  you.  His 
boat  is  due  in  Vancouver  on  the  26th.  Our  hope  is  that  he 
will  reach  America  in  good  condition  and  in  good  spirits. 

##*>*# 

The  Interchurch  Financial  Drive  is  slated  for  April  25  to 
May  2.  We  had  a  great  meeting  here  this  week  in  the  in¬ 
terest  of  the  drive.  John  D.  Rockefeller,  Jr.,  and  company 
were  here.  Earl  Taylor  and  Abe  (Cory)  and  a  dozen  or 
more  were  here.  The  dinner  in  the  Gibson  was  very  impres¬ 
sive.  The  night  meeting  was  not  so  good.  The  team  went  out 
to  Redland  and  saw  the  Reds  wipe  the  earth  with  the  Cubs, 
and  they  were  tired  when  the  night  came.  The  main  meeting 
at  night  was  in  the  Central  Church.  Emery  Hall  and  Music 
Hall  were  both  engaged  and  the  meetings  were  held  in  the 
churches. 

I  was  out  for  six  weeks  in  the  campaign.  I  had  a  good 
time  and  believe  I  did  some  good.  The  other  folk  in  the 
office  were  out  also.  Mr.  Yocum  and  S.  J.  Corey  and  Alex¬ 
ander  Paul  and  Miss  DeMoss  were  out  helping.  Ample  prep¬ 
aration  has  been  made  for  the  drive.  What  will  be  realized 
remains  to  be  seen.  There  are  many  obstacles  to  be  overcome. 

*  #  *  #  * 

No  doubt  Alec  or  someone  else  has  informed  you  that  the 
Reds  won  the  first  two  games.  Alec  (Paul)  and  Cy  (Yocum) 
have  passes.  You  know  what  that  means  and  how  they 
feel  in  their  inmost  souls.  Here  is  what  Grant  Lewis’s  boy 
said  when  he  heard  that  St.  Louis  was  chosen  (for  United 
Society  headquarters).  “0  shoot,  St.  Louis  has  no  baseball 
team.”  That  is  not  bad.  If  that  fact  had  been  announced 
in  advance  St.  Louis  might  not  have  been  chosen. 


354 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


By  this  time  you  are  on  your  way  to  China.  We  are 
troubled  about  the  last  letters  from  China.  The  Holroyds 
and  Miss  Abbott  have  returned  to  Nanking  and  Nantung- 
ehow  is  bereft  to  that  extent.  Alexander  Lee  has  resigned 
and  gone  into  the  government  school.  It  is  hard  for  us  to 
understand  the  meaning  of  all  this.  It  is  fortunate  for  the 
work  that  you  are  to  be  at  the  convention.  Wise  counsel  is 
needed  and  you  are  the  man  to  give  it. 

We  believe  that  the  Japan  mission  will  be  greatly  helped 
by  your  visit.  You  are  in  a  position  to  speak  as  no  member 
of  the  mission  can  speak.  The  missionaries  believe  in  you 
and  will  listen  to  you  and  will  be  guided  by  your  advice.  We 
regard  your  visit  as  providential.  We  believe  that  great  and 
lasting  good  will  result  from  it. 

We  shall  be  delighted  to  have  you  and  Mrs.  Doan  back 
again  in  our  midst.  We  are  lonely  without  you.  You  are  a 
pillar  of  strength  in  the  Mission  Rooms.  Your  counsel  is 
wise  and  is  needed  here  now  more  than  ever.  Your  life  and 
bearing  have  endeared  you  to  every  member  of  the  staff.  All 
believe  in  you  and  honor  you  for  what  you  are  and  for  what 
you  have  done  and  are  doing.  The  Lord  love  you  and  yours 
and  keep  you  and  yours  now  and  always. 

We  are  planning  the  conference  with  the  missionaries  and 
wish  you  could  be  with  us.  It  begins  on  the  9th  of  June  and 
continues  till  the  13th.  We  are  counting  on  you  to  speak  at 
the  St.  Louis  convention,  you  and  Bert.  S.  J.  goes  to  Switzer¬ 
land  in  June  to  attend  a  conference  there.  He  will  be  gone 
about  five  weeks.  Mr.  Burnham  goes  to  the  same  country 
later  in  the  season  in  the  interest  of  Christian  union. 

This  week  I  gave  two  lectures  in  the  College  of  Missions. 
One  was  on  Missions  in  the  Old  Testament  and  the  other  on 
Missions  in  the  New  Testament.  One  occupied  nearly  two 
hours  and  the  other  about  a  half-hour  less.  I  think  the  lec¬ 
tures  were  worth  while.  The  students  read  more  of  the  Bible 
that  day  than  for  some  days  previous,  I  am  sure. 

With  kindest  regards  to  Mrs.  Doan  and  to  the  missionaries 
and  the  Christians,  I  remain,  dear  Robert, 

Yours  very  affectionately, 

A.  McLean. 

Blessings  on  you  both  and  on  Austin. 


S.  M.  COOPER 


355 


Intimately  associated  with  Mr.  McLean  as  financial 
agent  of  Bethany  College  when  he  was  president,  and 
later  as  treasurer  of  the  Foreign  Society  when  he  was 
either  secretary  or  president;  living  in  the  same  city 
for  twenty-two  years;  entertaining  him  in  his  home; 
meeting  him  often  at  luncheon ;  traveling  with  him  to 
and  from  conventions;  S.  M.  Cooper,  now  of  Los 
Angeles,  California,  was  always  considered  by  Mr. 
McLean  one  of  his  comrades  in  the  service.  One  of 
the  highest  evidences  of  this  sense  of  comradeship  ap¬ 
peared  in  this  characteristic  incident  related  by  Mr. 
Cooper: 

He  called  me  over  the  phone  one  evening,  saying,  “S.  M., 
will  you  and  Mrs.  Cooper  be  home  this  evening?”  I  assured 
him  that  we  would  be  delighted  to  see  him  and  he  at  once 
came  over.  After  greeting  every  member  of  the  household 
most  cordially  and  inquiring  after  the  welfare  of  all,  he  dis¬ 
covered  a  new  book  of  interest  on  the  library  table  and  spent 
the  evening  reading  it,  apparently  oblivious  of  the  presence 
of  anyone.  Then  he  arose,  thanked  us  for  a  pleasant  eve¬ 
ning,  and  returned  home.  We  could  not  but  feel  highly 
pleased  that  this  truly  great  man  had  thus  declared  our  home 
to  be  his. 

Frequently  Mr.  McLean  and  Mr.  Rains  and  Mr. 
Cooper  took  luncheon  together.  Sometimes  the  con¬ 
versation  turned  to  matters  of  great  moment,  affecting 
the  welfare  of  the  society,  but  oftener,  meeting  as  they 
did  after  a  forenoon  spent  in  hard  work,  their  table- 
talk  was  in  lighter  vein.  While  Mr.  Rains  and  Mr. 
Cooper  did  most  of  the  talking  on  such  occasions,  Mr. 
McLean  nevertheless  contributed  an  important  part, 
not  only  by  his  appreciation  of  their  stories  and  re¬ 
marks,  but  also  by  relating  apt  incidents,  telling  short 
stories  or  making  an  original,  pithy  and  humorous 
statement,  always  opportune. 

One  day  Mr.  Cooper  took  as  his  guest  a  local  Theos- 
ophist  who  held  the  most  extreme  views  of  his  cult. 
His  apparently  sincere  pronouncements  as  to  an 


356 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


adept’s  ability  to  interpret  one’s  character  by  the 
color  of  the  atmosphere  environing  him,  or  his  power 
while  lying  in  a  comatose  state  in  Chicago  to  make  a 
complete  mental  record  of  the  proceedings  of  a  San 
Francisco  convention,  prompted  Mr.  McLean  to  ask 
him  some  pointed  and  embarrassing  questions.  These 
evoked  even  more  extravagant  statements,  always 
made  in  polysyllabic  terms — unless  shorter  words 
were  absolutely  necessary.  After  the  luncheon  when 
they  had  bidden  good-by  to  their  guest,  wdio  like  one 
of  Dickens’  friends  was  ever  funny  when  he  meant  to 
be  philosophical,  Mr.  McLean  turned  to  Mr.  Cooper 
and  said,  ‘ i  S.  M.,  if  that  man  is  sincere  I  do  not  think 
that  he  believes  the  nonsensical  statements  he  made 
to  us  today  but  rather  that  you  had  him  make  them  to 
witness  their  effect  upon  Rains  and  me.”  Then  the 
three  parted,  all  laughing  immoderately. 

Mr.  Cooper  made  a  number  of  trips  with  Mr.  McLean 
in  connection  with  missionary  rallies.  The  intro- 
duction  which  he  gave  him  at  the  first  one  was,  “Breth¬ 
ren,  I  have  brought  with  me  S.  M.  Cooper,  a  business 
man  of  Cincinnati,  who  mil  now  make  a  short  talk  on 
The  Layman’s  Relation  to  World-Wide  Evangelization . 
I  do  not  know  how  much  Mr.  Cooper  knows  about  mis¬ 
sions,  but  I  am  sure  that  if  he  will  attend  as  many 
of  these  rallies  as  he  should,  he  will  know  more  than 
he  does  now,  and  besides  will  give  more  money  for  the 
extension  of  the  kingdom.  So  I  have  brought  him 
along,  not  simply  to  help  you,  but  hoping  also  to  do 
him  some  good.” 

Even  in  the  old  days  when  there  was  some  appear¬ 
ance  of  competition  between  the  societies,  Mr.  McLean 
was  ever  a  true  comrade  to  the  secretaries  of  the  other 
societies.  He  would  go  to  the  limit  of  his  power  and 
influence  to  help  them,  but  at  the  same  time  he  was 
loyally  careful  that  nothing  should  interfere  with  the 
Foreign  Society’s  work.  When  B.  L.  Smith  was 


B.  L.  SMITH 


357 


elected  secretary  of  the  American  Christian  Mission¬ 
ary  Society  in  1895  Mr.  McLean  was  on  his  circuit  of 
the  globe,  but  wrote  from  Constantinople  a  letter  of 
such  stimulating  and  reassuring  encouragement  that  it 
gave  Mr.  Smith  heart  for  what  seemed  a  forlorn  hope. 
After  Mr.  Smith  was  well  launched  in  his  work  a 
mutual  friend  told  Mr.  McLean  that  the  A.  C.  M.  S. 
was  planning  a  series  of  home  missionary  rallies. 
<  ‘  Home  missionary  rallies !  ’  ’  he  exclaimed.  Then  after 
a  moment \s  reflection,  “Well,  if  you  can’t  be  a  voice, 
be  an  echo.  ’ ’ 

Among  Mr.  Smith’s  many  recollections  of  his  senior 
comrade  are  these  three. 

Once  when  campaigning  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  he  giving  his 
lecture  on  his  trip  around  the  world  and  I  speaking  on  home 
missions,  we  happened  to  be  in  Eastern  Oregon  at  the  con¬ 
vention.  Just  before  the  evening  service,  he  said  to  Mrs. 
Smith,  “Mrs.  Smith,  I  will  give  you  a  ticket  to  the  theatre 
if  you  won’t  go  and  hear  me  tonight.  You  have  heard  that 
lecture  so  many  times  I  know  it  must  be  a  bore  to  you.” 
There  was  no  theatre  within  two  hundred  miles  of  us,  but 
Mrs.  Smith  met  him.  “Why,  Mr.  McLean,  I  have  to  go  to 
start  the  applause;  I  am  the  only  one  who  knows  when  the 
jokes  come  in!” 

“Say,  Brother  Smith,  do  you  know  we  need  one  more  so¬ 
ciety  among  us!”  That  was  in  the  days  when  somebody  ad¬ 
vocated  making  “another  day  for  we  have  already  taken 
every  day  the  Lord  has  made.  ”  So  I  wondered  what  McLean 
meant  in  suggesting  another  society  among  us,  and  got  this 
answer.  “We  need  a  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty 
to  Secretaries,  to  protect  the  various  secretaries  from  one 
another’s  speeches — George  Muckley’s  five-finger  exercise  for 
instance !  ’  ’ 

Once  we  were  discussing  a  good  piece  of  work  which  he  had 
done  in  connection  with  the  Jubilee  convention.  I  remarked 
that  I  feared  he  would  not  receive  the  credit  due  him  for  his 
part.  “My  friend,  we  are  not  doing  this  work  on  credit!” 
The  unselfish  McLean ! 

In  reply  to  a  letter  of  Mr.  Smith’s  after  the  St. 
Louis  convention,  Mr.  McLean  wrote  this  last  to  him. 


358 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


St.  Louis,  Missouri,  November  16,  1920. 
My  dear  Brother  Smith : 

Your  gracious  letter  was  duly  received.  I  do  not  know 
how  to  thank  you  for  it.  All  I  can  say  is  God  bless  and  re¬ 
ward  you.  May  he  supply  every  need  of  yours  out  of  his 
infinite  fullness.  I  consider  it  a  great  thing  to  be  loved  and 
trusted  by  one  who  has  known  me  as  long  as  you  have  known 
me.  We  have  worked  together  many  years  and  have  long 
known  each  other  and  in  all  these  years  we  have  trusted  each 
other  and  loved  each  other. 

One  who  fills  a  public  office  is  bound  to  be  misunderstood 
and  misrepresented.  There  are  those  who  prefer  to  believe 
evil  about  one  rather  than  good — but  there  are  great  hosts 
of  the  other  kind  who  do  trust  and  will  continue  to  trust  one 
that  they  know  is  striving  to  serve  the  Lord.  You  are  one 
of  that  number.  Your  life  has  been  enriched  by  the  confi¬ 
dence  you  have  bestowed  on  others.  I  say  again,  may  your 
life  be  blessed  of  God  with  his  wondrous  grace. 

With  all  good  wishes  and  warmest  personal  regards,  I 
remain,  Yours  very  truly, 

A.  McLean. 

Thus  appear  not  only  the  greatness  and  goodness 
of  Archibald  McLean  but  some  hints  and  suggestions 
as  to  wherein  lay  his  goodness  and  his  greatness.  The 
more  closely  men  and  women  associated  with  him  the 
more  highly  they  honored  him.  For  thirty-nine  years 
they  saw  him  standing  out  in  the  open,  fighting  covet¬ 
ousness,  selfishness,  bigotry,  ignorance,  caste,  provin¬ 
cialism,  ease,  racial  animosity  and  sectarian  prejudice ; 
all  of  the  dear  sins  and  vices  of  his  own  brethren; 
never  compromising,  never  stooping.  Every  day  they 
saw  in  his  personal  life  more  and  more  of  the  fruit  of 
the  Spirit.  Tried  by  fire,  tested  by  acid,  they  found 
him  always  unhesitatingly  seeking  first  the  Kingdom 
of  God,  and  in  that  looking  out  for  everyone  else  be¬ 
fore  himself.  But  ever  he  was  human,  natural,  indi¬ 
vidual,  most  amazing  in  the  simplicity  to  which  he 
could  reduce  the  greatest  virtues. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 


A  COMPLETED  TASK 


PROPOSED  TOUR  OF  MISSION  FIELDS — ANNUAL  VISIT  TO  BATTLE  CREEK — 

SLIGHT  SURGICAL  OPERATION - LETTERS  TO  ST.  LOUIS — FRIENDS  OLD  AND  NEW 

- LETTER  OF  W.  H.  MILLER - "TWO  MILLION  FRIENDS" - THE  SHOCK  OF  HIS 

GOING — FUNERAL  IN  ST.  LOUIS  AND  CINCINNATI - RE-BURIAL  AT  BETHANY - 

BETTY  MUCKLEY'S  TRIBUTE - LETTERS  AND  CARDS  TO  THE  BOWDEN  CHILDREN 

- MRS.  POUNDS''  POEM - HIS  WORK  WAS  DONE — THE  ST.  LOUIS  CONVENTION - 

HIS  WORK  GOES  ON  FOREVER. 


OR  several  years  the  missionaries  in  the  different 


A  fields  had  been  asking  for  a  visit  from  Mr.  McLean 
in  which  he  should  spend  enough  time  with  each 
mission  and  even  each  station,  to  enter  fully  into 
its  problems  and  prospects  and  to  counsel  inti¬ 
mately  with  the  workers  that  had  been  raised  up  on 
the  fields,  as  well  as  with  those  who  had  gone  out  from 
the  United  States,  Canada,  England  and  Australia. 
After  the  organization  of  the  United  Christian  Mis¬ 
sionary  Society  both  Mr.  McLean  and  his  associates 
felt  that  he  should  make  such  a  journey,  giving  to  it 
possibly  eighteen  months.  The  date  for  his  departure 
from  the  homeland  was  tentatively  set  for  the  early 
summer,  1921,  and  he  was  making  all  of  his  plans  with 
this  journey  in  prospect. 

From  1900  he  had  gone  to  Battle  Creek,  Michigan, 
almost  every  year  for  two  or  three  weeks  of  rest  and 
recuperation.  Usually  this  came  after  the  March  offer¬ 
ing  and  was  necessitated  by  the  long  series  of  mission¬ 
ary  rallies  that  had  preceded  it.  Sometimes  it  was  in 
the  fall  after  the  close  of  the  missionary  year  and  the 
national  convention  and  before  starting  on  the  rallies. 

Some  two  years  prior  to  the  St.  Louis  convention  he 


359 


360 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


suffered  a  slight  rupture  for  which  he  was  wearing  a 
truss.  With  his  usual  reticence  he  said  nothing  of  this 
to  his  associates  and  went  on  with  his  regular  work. 
But  he  evidently  felt  that  before  starting  on  such  a 
long  journey  it  would  be  well  to  have  the  injury  cor¬ 
rected.  In  1920  he  decided  to  get  surgical  relief  from 
his  trouble  during  his  annual  sojourn  at  Battle  Creek. 
Only  two  persons  at  headquarters  knew  that  he  con¬ 
templated  the  operation  and  he  told  only  one  or  two 
others  where  he  was  going.  The  rest  supposed  that 
he  was  out  in  the  interest  of  the  Interchurch  Under¬ 
writings  as  most  of  the  officers  of  the  United  Society 
were  at  that  time. 

He  left  St.  Louis  Friday  evening,  November  26. 
That  week  he  had  seemed  to  be  in  the  best  of  health 
and  spirits.  He  was  at  his  office  regularly  every  day 
in  accordance  with  his  custom,  and  for  longer  hours 
than  anyone  else  spent  there.  He  attended  church  and 
prayer  meeting  as  usual.  At  the  morning  service  of 
his  last  Sunday  in  St.  Louis  he  offered  the  principal 
prayer  with  all  the  uplifting  power  that  he  usually 
exercised  when  he  led  the  devotions  of  a  congregation. 
Thanksgiving  Day,  November  25,  he  attended  the 
union  sendee  at  the  Pilgrim  Congregational  Church 
and  then  he  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Warren  took  dinner 
with  Mr.  and  Mrs.  G.  W.  Muckley  and  their  family. 
At  the  table  and  in  the  home  afterward  he  was  at  his 
genial  best  and  devoted  a  large  part  of  his  attention 
to  nine-year-old  Betty  Muckley. 

He  had  not  told  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Warren  where  he  was 
going.  As  he  was  leaving  home  they  told  him  good-by 
in  a  casual  way,  thinking  he  was  going  to  Texas,  as  he 
had  planned  some  weeks  before,  in  the  interest  of  the 
Underwritings  campaign.  At  the  door  he  hesitated, 
with  his  traveling  bag  in  his  hand,  as  though  he  had 
something  more  to  say.  Possibly  he  was  debating 


JUST  AS  HE  LEFT  IT 

Mr.  McLean’s  study  at  535  Clara  Avenue,  St.  Louis.  His  bedroom  was 
at  the  right.  All  three  rooms  fronted  north  on  a  wide  lawn  and  each 

had  its  quota  of  bookshelves. 


* 


SLIGHT  SURGICAL  OPERATION 


361 


whether  he  should  tell  them  of  his  real  destination. 
He  had  simply  stated  that  he  expected  to  be  back  be¬ 
fore  Christmas.  Evidently  he  concluded  that  this  was 
sufficient,  for  he  merely  said  good-by  and  went  on  his 
way. 

The  examination  at  Battle  Creek  Sanitarium  showed 
him  in  such  perfect  condition  for  the  operation  that 
he  went  to  the  hospital  on  December  1.  His  letters 
indicate  how  little  importance  he  attached  to  the  event. 
The  dates  and  character  of  these  letters  are  an  index 
also  to  the  freedom  of  his  mind  and  the  slight  and 
temporary  disturbance  that  his  habits  suffered  from 
the  operation.  After  it  was  done  he  mentioned  the 
operation  casually  in  letters  to  several  of  his  friends. 

(To  George  A.  Campbell,  Minister  Union  Avenue  Chris¬ 
tian  Church,  St.  Louis.) 

November  30,  1920. 

My  dear  Brother  Campbell : 

I  am  here  in  Battle  Creek  for  a  slight  surgical  operation. 
I  hope  to  be  home  before  Christmas  if  all  goes  well.  I  do  not 
wish  anyone  else  to  know  of  the  reason  for  my  absence. 

There  is  one  thing  I  wish  to  say  to  you.  It  is  this:  When 
you  received  me  into  the  church  and  at  other  times  you  did 
me  overmuch  honor.  I  have  done  my  share  in  the  work,  but 
no  more  than  my  share.  The  men  in  the  Foreign  Society 
have  done  teamwork,  and  I  was  one  of  the  team.  I  was  the 
president  of  the  society,  but  as  a  matter  of  fact  there  was 
little  presiding  to  do.  Each  member  of  the  team  had  his 
place  and  his  work,  and  each  one  did  his  part.  No  men  could 
have  been  more  loyal  than  F.  M.  Rains,  and  S.  J.  Corey,  and 
C.  W.  Plopper,  and  Bert  Wilson,  and  R.  A.  Doan,  and  C.  M. 
Yocum.  The  Lord  doesn’t  make  better  men  than  these.  They 
are  as  true  to  all  the  work  of  the  kingdom  and  to  each  other 
as  the  needle  to  the  pole. 

They  shared  equally  with  me  in  the  work  and  they  should 
share  equally  with  me  in  the  honor.  This  is  my  wish. 

I  trust  it  is  well  with  you  and  your  house  and  the  church. 

Affectionately  and  truly  yours, 


A.  McLean. 


362 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


December  7,  1920. 

Dear  Brother  Campbell : 

A  week  ago  I  had  my  operation.  It  was  a  simple  affair. 
There  were  no  complications.  I  am  getting  on  well.  I  have 
no  pain,  and  have  had  none.  The  surgeon  says  I  can  be  at 
home  by  Christmas.  All  that  is  necessary  is  for  the  wound  to 
heal.  I  am  trying  to  assist  nature  in  her  gracious  work. 

I  trust  things  are  well  in  the  church  and  with  you  and 
yours. 

Affectionately  yours, 

A.  McLean. 
December  4,  1920. 

Mr.  R.  A.  Doan, 

St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

Dear  Robert : 

I  wish  very  much  that  you  may  go  to  New  York  to  attend 
the  meeting  of  the  trustees  of  the  University  of  Nanking. 
The  place  is  the  Foreign  Board  rooms  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church,  156  Fifth  Avenue;  the  time  is  the  10th  at  two  o’clock 
in  the  afternoon,  New  York  time.  That  will  be  about  noon 
of  our  time. 

In  case  it  will  not  be  possible  for  you  to  go  I  wish  you  to 
ask  Mr.  Burnham  or  Mrs.  Atwater  to  go. 

This  is  the  most  important  meeting  of  the  year  because  the 
budget  for  the  year  is  to  be  presented.  We  ought  to  be  rep¬ 
resented  by  all  means. 

I  will  ask  Mr.  Elliott  to  secure  a  pass  for  you  if  possible. 
I  trust  things  are  going  well  in  the  office  and  with  Mrs. 
Doan  and  yourself. 

Yours  very  truly, 

A.  McLean. 

By  CCS 

December  9,  1920. 

Dear  Brother  Corey: 

Your  article  in  World  Call  on  my  new  book  gave  me  a 
world  of  pleasure.  What  a  great  soul  you  have!  And  how 
generous  you  are  in  all  your  estimates.  The  Lord  be  praised 
for  so  true  and  noble  a  friend. 

I  agree  with  you  as  to  the  address,  The  Place  of  Missions 
in  the  Thought  of  God,  which  is  the  heart  of  the  book.  There 


LETTERS  TO  ST.  LOUIS 


363 


are  others  not  named  by  you  upon  which  I  spent  much  time. 
Some  day  I  wish  you  would  read  them.  The  last  one  in  the 
volume  cost  me  more  than  any  other.  The  ones  entitled  Bed- 
Rock  in  Missions ,  Christ  Entering  into  His  Glory ,  An  Offer¬ 
ing  Acceptable  to  God ,  and  Christ  Walking  Amid  the  Seven 
Golden  Candlesticks,  are  worth  reading,  I  think. 

I  am  improving  steadily.  I  have  no  pain,  but  must  lie  still. 
The  days  and  nights  are  dreadfully  long.  I  am  anxious  to 
see  you  all  and  be  back  at  my  desk.  I  am  hoping  to  be 
home  before  Christmas. 

I  trust  things  are  going  well.  I  trust  that  we  are  to  be 
represented  at  the  (Nanking  University)  trustees’  meeting 
in  New  York  tomorrow. 

Bert’s  work  on  the  Underwritings  deserves  a  great  reward. 
If  we  can  clear  off  the  whole  $600,000  it  will  be  a  great 
victory. 

Blessings  on  you  and  yours  and  on  us  all,  every  one. 

Affectionately, 

A.  McLean. 

Let  President  Burnham  know  how  I  am  faring. 

December  13,  1920. 

My  dear  Brother  Corey: 

All  day  yesterday  (Sunday)  I  was  thinking  about  the 
Underwritings  and  was  wondering  if  the  $600,000  was  raised. 
The  report  that  this  amount  was  exceeded  will  bring  relief 
and  joy  to  many  hearts. 

I  have  been  thinking  that  the  South  American  Commission 
should  consist  of  Mrs.  Atwater,  yourself  and  President  Burn¬ 
ham.  Three  will  be  better  than  two.  I  believe  that  it  will 
be  a  great  thing  for  the  work  for  all  time  if  all  three  can  go. 

The  doctors  and  nurses  say  I  am  doing  famously  well.  The 
wound  has  healed.  This  is  the  13th  day.  After  five  days 
more,  if  things  go  well,  I  can  leave  the  bed  and  walk.  I  am 
counting  on  being  home  on  Christmas.  I  am  not  sure  about 
the  24th.  Perhaps  if  I  were  at  home  then  it  would  be  well 
to  keep  quiet.  I  am  eager  to  be  with  you  all  again.  I  am 
writing  in  bed  and  fear  I  am  not  writing  very  legibly.  Per¬ 
haps  you  can  read  it. 

Love  to  you  and  yours  and  to  all. 

Affectionately, 


A.  McLean. 


364  ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 

Battle  Creek,  Michigan,  December  13,  1920. 
My  dear  Cyrus : 

Thank  you  for  your  good  letter.  I  rejoice  with  you  over 
your  prosperous  visit  to  Texas.  I  wish  I  could  have  been 
with  you.  It  is  very  pleasant  to  read  the  greetings  from 
the  Texas  preachers.  Blessings  on  you  and  on  them. 

I  have  been  here  a  little  over  two  weeks.  I  am  planning 
to  be  in  St.  Louis  by  Christmas.  As  to  the  Rushville  ham  and 
eggs,  I  cannot  aspire  to  rise  to  such  fare  all  at  once.  ‘  ‘  Heaven 
is  not  reached  at  a  single  bound.  ’  ’  It  should  require  a  month 
or  two  to  prepare  my  stomach  for  your  royal  fare.  Please 
have  patience  with  me.  I  fancy  it  took  Nebuchadnezzar 
quite  a  time  to  rise  from  his  diet  of  grass  to  ham  and  eggs. 

If  the  $600,000  is  raised  and  exceeded,  I  and  many  others 
will  rejoice. 

Blessings  on  you  and  Mrs.  Yocum  and  Cy. 

Affectionately, 

A.  McLean. 

Battle  Creek,  Michigan,  December  11,  1920. 
My  dear  Brother  Burnham : 

Thank  you  for  the  letter  from  Boston.  I  congratulate  you 
upon  the  profitable  and  delightful  experiences  of  that  visit 
to  Boston  and  Plymouth.  I  wish  I  could  have  been  with  you. 

It  is  eleven  days  since  my  operation.  I  have  to  lie  still 
in  bed  for  seven  days  more.  I  shall  have  to  remain  here  for 
a  few  days  after  I  get  up.  I  am  told  that  I  can  be  at  home 
for  Christmas.  You  may  rest  assured  that  I  shall  go  home 
as  soon  as  I  get  permission.  I  regret  that  it  is  necessary  for 
me  to  be  away  from  the  field  of  action.  The  work  does  not 
depend  on  any  one  servant.  The  work  is  the  Lord’s  and  he 
will  see  that  it  goes  forward. 

I  wish  I  could  be  in  the  officers  ’  council  and  at  the  meeting 
of  the  executive  committee.  I  shall  think  of  you  all  on  these 
days. 

Blessings  on  you  and  on  Mrs.  Burnham  and  upon  the 
whole  work  of  the  kingdom. 

Affectionately  yours, 

A.  McLean. 

In  the  sanitarium  at  Battle  Creek  were  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Charles  Shedd  from  China.  Before  her  marriage 


FRIENDS  OLD  AND  NEW 


365 


Mrs.  Sliedd  was  Miss  Anna  Louise  Fillmore,  daughter 
of  J.  H.  Fillmore  of  Cincinnati,  and  a  missionary  of 
the  Foreign  Society  in  Nanking,  China.  Mr.  McLean 
had  known  her  intimately  all  her  life  and  he  greatly 
enjoyed  the  opportunity  of  seeing  her  and  her  husband 
where  there  was  plenty  of  time  to  talk.  In  the  room 
with  him  was  W.  H.  Miller  of  Charlevoix,  Michigan. 
They  quickly  became  good  friends,  as  Mr.  Miller  indi¬ 
cates  in  the  following  letter.  The  letter  is  valuable  not 
only  because  of  the  information  it  gives  but  even  more 
for  its  revelation  of  the  impression  which  Mr.  McLean 
made  upon  a  stranger. 

Charlevoix,  Michigan,  September  24,  1921. 

Mr.  McLean  was  moved  into  the  room  with  me  the  second 
day  after  his  operation  and  remained  there  until  the  time  of 
his  death,  two  weeks  later.  During  all  of  those  days  of  suf¬ 
fering  he  remained  always  cheerful  and  hopeful  in  his  out¬ 
look  on  life  and  gentle  and  patient  in  his  relations  with 
patients  and  attendants.  His  mind  was  clear  and  his  atten¬ 
tion  alert  at  all  times  and  although  he  never  mentioned  him¬ 
self  or  his  own  experiences,  his  conversation  on  general  topics 
was  very  illuminating.  He  seemed  especially  pleased  in  gath¬ 
ering  from  the  conversation  of  others  and  in  entering  in  ten¬ 
der  sympathy  into  the  experiences  of  others.  He  enjoyed 
having  his  bed  moved  out  on  the  veranda  where  he  could 
listen  to  the  conversation  of  the  convalescent  patients  and 
although  he  rarely  asserted  himself  to  enter  into  the  general 
conversation  there,  he  often  asked  to  have  his  bed  moved 
near  to  the  men  who  were  good  talkers  and  who  were  whole¬ 
some  in  their  influence. 

He  was  extremely  modest  and  self-abnegative  and  it  seemed 
difficult  for  him  to  let  his  needs  be  known,  his  desire  being 
to  make  others  as  little  trouble  as  possible.  His  love  for  chil¬ 
dren  seemed  one  of  his  strong  emotions  and  he  manifested 
much  interest  in  all  children  who  came  within  his  notice.  My 
own  little  girl  came  wTith  her  mother  regularly  three  times 
a  day  to  see  me  and  he  grew  to  look  forward  to  her  visits  with 
almost  as  much  eagerness  as  I  did  myself.  He  talked  with 
her  kindly  and  accepted  from  her  little  favors  which  her 


366 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


childish,  fancy  prompted.  She  loved  to  adjust  his  pillows, 
bring  him  a  cool  drink  or  put  fresh  water  on  the  flowers  by 
his  bedside.  When  the  nurse  made  her  a  little  nurse’s  cos¬ 
tume  he  allowed  her  to  take  his  temperature  with  a  little 
paper  thermometer  and  delighted  her  with  his  patient  accept¬ 
ance  of  her  attentions.  The  friendship  of  these  two  indi¬ 
viduals  standing  on  the  opposite  thresholds  of  life  was  beau¬ 
tiful  to  see  and  I  am  sure  it  is  a  memory  which  my  little 
Gwendolen  will  carry  with  her  through  life. 

He  had  reached  within  four  days  of  the  time  set  for  him 
to  be  up  and,  although  the  doctors  regarded  him  as  a  very 
sick  man,  he  did  not  seem  to  suffer  much  pain  and  looked 
forward  confidently  to  his  recovery.  He  had  bidden  good¬ 
night  to  his  visitors  in  the  evening  in  a  cheerful  mood  and 
went  to  sleep  easily  and  naturally.  Although  I  was  awake 
many  times  during  the  night  I  noticed  no  uneasiness  on  his 
part.  About  five  o’clock  in  the  morning  I  was  awakened 
by  a  change  in  his  breathing  and  called  an  attendant  who 
responded  very  promptly.  All  was  done  that  human  power 
could  but  he  never  regained  consciousness  and  died  within  a 
half-hour. 

W.  H.  Miller. 

T.  S.  Cleaver,  minister  of  the  Battle  Creek  Christian 
Church,  had  been  known  to  Mr.  McLean  for  many 
years.  Mrs.  Cleaver  is  a  daughter  of  C.  J.  Tannar,  an 
early  successor  of  Mr.  McLean  in  the  pastorate  of  the 
Mt.  Healthy  Church.  He  had  known  her  from  infancy. 
Mr.  Cleaver  saw  him  within  a  few  hours  after  the 
operation.  The  next  time  he  called  they  had  moved 
him  to  another  room  where  there  were  three  other 
beds.  He  had  given  no  information  regarding  himself 
except  what  was  required  for  the  records  at  the  office 
and  this  of  course  was  held  confidential.  Some  of  the 
staff  remarked  to  Mr.  Cleaver  that  he  was  a  wonderful 
gentleman  and  must  have  good  connections.  Then 
they  asked,  “Has  he  no  friends V9  He  replied,  “Only 
about  two  million.”  They  answered  at  once,  “We 
knew  he  must  be  a  great  man  and  a  good  man.” 


4 ‘TWO  MILLION  FRIENDS” 


367 


As  he  gained  strength  after  the  operation  he  read, 
wrote  letters,  talked  with  his  friends  and  completed 
the  manuscript  of  the  lecture  which  he  was  preparing 
to  deliver  on  Isaac  Errett,  which  was  published  in  the 
June  and  July  numbers  of  World  Cally  1921.  It  was  as 
clear  and  vigorous  a  piece  of  writing  as  he  had  ever 
done  and  was  a  splendid  tribute  to  his  senior  comrade 
in  the  pioneering  of  the  missionary  cause  among  the 
Disciples  of  Christ. 

On  the  evening  of  December  14,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Shedd 
and  Mr.  Cleaver  were  in  to  see  Mr.  McLean  and  found 
him  apparently  at  his  best.  Mr.  Cleaver  says : 

He  took  my  hand  with  a  fatherly  firmness  and  yet  with  a 
motherly  tenderness  and  said,  “I  am  glad  you  have  come; 
where  have  you  been,  Brother  Cleaver?”  I  had  been  to 
Detroit  that  week  and  this  trip  had  caused  my  absence.  “Sit 
down,  Brother  Cleaver,”  he  said.  I  always  took  him  our 
weekly  publications  and  World  Call ;  these  he  enjoyed  very 
much.  “Excuse  me,  will  you,  while  I  just  look  through 
these?”  He  rapidly  glanced  over  the  pages  and  then  seemed 
somewhat  satisfied.  My !  how  that  man  did  love  the  brother¬ 
hood.  We  talked  about  various  topics  of  interest  and  after 
an  hour  and  a  quarter’s  visit  I  got  up  to  go,  thinking  per¬ 
haps  I  was  tiring  him.  Mr.  McLean  insisted  that  I  remain 
longer  as  he  said  he  loved  to  have  his  friends  come.  After 
a  season  of  devotions,  I  asked  him  about  the  great  master¬ 
pieces  on  prayer.  He  could  tell  them  all  by  heart. 

From  the  discussions  on  prayer,  we  turned  to  books.  We 
always  had  a  brief  talk  on  books.  “What  are  you  reading 
off  the  press?”  I  told  him  I  had  received  some  satisfaction 
from  Boreham’s  essays.  “I  have  not  read  Boreham,  bring 
me  a  volume  the  next  time  you  come  to  see  me.  *  ’  I  was  never 
privileged  to  take  him  that  book.  While  talking  of  books,  I 
told  him  that  I  received  great  help  from  Epoch  Makers  of 
Modern  Missions.  In  his  kind  and  thoughtful  manner  he 
said,  “lam  glad  that  book  has  helped  you.  ’  ’ 

I  told  him  one  day  what  a  magnificent  life  work  he  had 
accomplished.  In  a  very  humble  tone  he  said  it  was  very 
easy  to  build  up  a  great  work  with  such  choice  souls  as  S.  J. 
Corey,  Rains,  Bert  Wilson,  Yocum,  Doan  and  Plopper. 


368 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


* 1  There  are  no  finer  men  made ;  it  is  a  pleasure  to  work  with 
them.  If  there  is  any  praise  these  men  should  have  it.” 

He  asked  me  if  I  had  any  reports  of  how  the  December 
drive  for  the  Underwritings  had  come  out.  The  mission¬ 
ary  pioneer  of  the  Disciples  was  deeply  interested  in  this 
effort.  I  had  to  tell  him  that  it  was  too  early  to  get  such 
reports.  “Ah  well,  our  people  will  respond  to  the  appeal 
grandly;  they  never  fail  us  in  an  appeal  of  this  kind.” 

Early  on  the  morning*  of  the  15th,  Mr.  Miller,  who 
was  in  the  bed  next  to  Mr.  McLean,  noticed  that  he  was 
breathing  heavily  and  rang  the  bell  for  the  nurse.  She 
was  just  outside  the  door  and  came  immediately.  When 
she  spoke  to  Mr.  McLean  he  said  that  he  had  not  slept 
well  and  that  he  seemed  to  have  difficulty  in  breathing. 
She  summoned  the  doctor  who  came  at  once  but  found 
him  unconscious  and  within  a  few  minutes  his  breath¬ 
ing  quietly  ceased.  Dr.  J.  H.  Kellogg  says:  4 ‘The 
post-mortem  examination  showed  large  blood  clots  in 
the  pulmonary  area.  We  believe  pulmonary  embolism 
was  the  cause  of  his  death.” 

On  the  table  by  his  bedside  were  his  Greek  New 
Testament,  a  missionary  book,  the  freshly  completed 
manuscript  of  his  lecture  on  Isaac  Errett,  and  a  copy 
of  Paradise  Lost  from  which  he  had  quoted  in  describ¬ 
ing  Mr.  Errett. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  imagine  a  greater  shock 
than  that  which  came  to  the  headquarters  staff  at  St. 
Louis,  to  Mr.  McLean’s  brothers  and  sisters  and  to 
his  friends  throughout  the  world,  with  the  report  of 
his  death.  The  following  paragraph  from  a  letter 
written  by  W.  F.  Turner,  December  22,  1920,  is  typical 
of  the  feeling  everywhere. 

I  was  speaking  in  a  missionary  rally  in  the  University 
Church,  Seattle,  when  the  messenger  interrupted  me  with  a 
telegram.  I  signed  and  laid  it  aside  till  I  had  concluded. 
While  Brother  Mitchell  was  introducing  Mrs.  Louise  Kelly  I 
opened  it  and  read  from  Brother  Burnham  the  strange,  sad 


THE  SHOCK  OF  HIS  GOING 


369 


news  that  Brother  McLean  had  passed  away.  I  was  simply 
amazed,  for  I  thought  he  was  in  perfect  health.  You  can 
imagine  our  feelings  as  we  can  yours.  I  arose  and  read  it 
and  at  once  the  audience  was  in  tears.  After  a  few  moments 
we  bowed  for  some  time  in  silent  prayer.  Then  I  asked 
Brother  Tlirapp  to  voice  our  prayers  which  he  did  in  a  most 
wonderful  way.  But  our  afternoon  was  sadly  disarranged. 
We  could  not  regain  our  composure. 

Stephen  J.  Corey  took  the  next  train  for  Battle 
Creek  and  brought  the  remains  to  St.  Louis.  Mrs. 
Catto,  Mr.  McLean’s  sister,  came  at  once  from  Wash¬ 
ington,  D.  C.,  to  St.  Louis.  Sunday  afternoon,  Decem¬ 
ber  19,  we  held  a  service  in  the  Union  Avenue  Church, 
with  a  sermon  by  George  Alexander  Campbell,  the 
minister,  on  Why  Did  We  Love  Him  So?  His  text 
was:  “I  glorify  my  ministry,”  Romans  11:13.  Mr. 
Campbell  said : 

No  other  one  among  the  Disciples  ever  had  so  many  friends, 
none  so  large  a  place  in  the  hearts  of  the  people.  This  con¬ 
quest  in  the  kingdom  of  affection,  of  the  heart,  is  to  me  Mr. 
McLean's  greatest  accomplishment,  greatest  glory,  greatest 
power. 

Why  did  we  love  him  so  greatly?  Why  did  so  many  thou¬ 
sands  love  him?  To  have  made  a  few  friends  is  an  accom¬ 
plishment  not  to  be  gainsaid.  But  to  have  won  many  thou¬ 
sands  who  not  only  admired  but  loved,  and  loved  fervently, 
is  so  unusual  that  we  are  led  to  inquire  the  reason.  The 
basis  of  this  affection  lies  in  six  particulars :  He  glorified  his 
ministry  by  a  choice  once  for  all  made.  He  glorified  his 
ministry  by  prayer.  He  glorified  his  ministry  through  love 
and  friendship.  He  glorified  his  ministry  by  intellectual 
ability  and  fidelity.  A.  McLean  glorified  his  ministry  by 
stressing  the  heroic. 

That  night  the  officers  of  the  society  and  others  from 
St.  Louis  went  with  the  remains  to  Cincinnati.  Mon¬ 
day  afternoon  another  such  representative  gathering 
assembled  in  Central  Church  as  had  tilled  the  great  old 
sanctuary  for  his  thirty-fifth  anniversary  celebration. 


370 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


On  this  occasion  as  on  that  many  had  come  from  a  dis¬ 
tance.  Despite  all  the  unfeigned  sorrow  and  unpre¬ 
tentious  solemnity  of  this  occasion,  the  same  note  of 
triumph  ran  through  this  service  as  through  that.  The 
words  of  appreciation  and  affection  spoken  or  unex¬ 
pressed  by  those  present  and  voiced  by  innumerable 
telegrams  and  letters  from  those  who  could  not  attend, 
were  almost  as  frank  and  emphatic  when  his  living 
ears  heard  them  March  4,  1917,  as  on  December  20, 
1920,  when  the  mass  of  flowers  that  hid  the  pulpit  and 
casket  gave  no  response  to  the  voice  of  love. 

Frederick  W.  Burnham,  president  of  the  United 
Christian  Missionary  Society,  made  a  brief  statement 
regarding  Mr.  McLean’s  last  days  and  his  departure, 
and  read  a  few  telegrams  as  representative  of  the 
great  number  received.  W.  R.  Warren  outlined  the 
events  of  Mr.  McLean’s  life.  Charles  J.  Sebastian,  Mr. 
McLean’s  last  pastor  in  Cincinnati,  who  had  also  been 
associated  with  him  in  the  office  of  the  Foreign  Soci¬ 
ety  when  just  a  boy,  and  by  his  influence  committed 
to  the  ministry,  spoke  of  his  relation  to  the  local 
church.  0.  J.  Grainger,  missionary  to  India,  indicated 
the  fatherly  relationship  of  Mr.  McLean  to  all  the  mis¬ 
sionaries.  Mrs.  Anna  R.  Atwater,  vice-president  of  the 
United  Society,  spoke  of  his  steadfastness  and  his 
abounding  in  every  good  work.  Stephen  J.  Corey 
gave  the  principal  address  of  the  day,  defining  the 
personality  of  Mr.  McLean  and  setting  forth  the  great 
service  which  he  rendered  in  the  cause  of  Christ. 
Justin  N.  Green,  minister  of  the  Evanston  Church, 
Cincinnati,  and  J.  W.  Hagin,  of  the  Madison  Avenue 
Church,  Covington,  Kentucky,  led  our  prayers.  Miss 
Fred  Fillmore,  a  daughter  of  J.  H.  Fillmore,  and  all 
her  life  a  devoted  friend  of  Mr.  McLean,  sang  two  of 
his  favorite  songs,  Crossing  the  Bar ,  and  Day  is  Dying 
in  the  West.  The  pallbearers  were  representatives  of 


THE  FUNERAL 


371 


five  of  the  Foreign  Society’s  six  fields,  Dr.  Shelton  of 
Tibet  being  on  the  Pacific  Coast  and  unable  to  attend  : 
0.  J.  Grainger  of  India,  Alexander  Paul  of  China,  W. 
H.  Erskine  of  Japan,  Leslie  Wolfe  of  the  Philippines, 
H.  C.  Hobgood  and  W.  H.  Edwards  of  Africa.  Then 
we  took  the  body  to  the  receiving  vault  in  Spring 
Grove  Cemetery  and  a  few  days  later  interred  it  a 
short  distance  from  the  grave  of  Mr.  Rains. 

Not  only  the  funeral  addresses  but  many  letters  and 
articles  regarding  Mr.  McLean  were  published  in  The 
Christ  i  an  -Evangelist )  World  Call  and  other  church 
periodicals.  On  the  first  Sunday  in  March,  the  thirty- 
ninth  anniversary  of  his  service  with  the  Foreign 
Society,  churches  throughout  the  brotherhood  held 
memorial  services.  This  had  been  a  red-letter  day  with 
him  throughout  his  ministry,  since  it  was  foreign 
missions  day  in  the  churches.  The  United  Society 
sent  out  to  each  church  a  large  photogravure  repro¬ 
duction  of  one  of  his  most  satisfactory  photographs 
to  frame  and  unveil  in  these  memorial  services. 

The  closing  period  of  foreign  missions  day  in  the 
international  convention  at  Winona  Lake,  Indiana, 
August  31,  1921,  was  a  special  memorial  service  with 
addresses  by  0.  J.  Grainger  and  W.  F.  Richardson, 
and  a  bust  made  by  R.  P.  Bringhurst  from  the  death 
mask  and  photographs  was  unveiled.  S.  M.  Cooper  of 
Los  Angeles,  and  M.  Y.  Cooper  of  Cincinnati,  bore  the 
cost  of  this  bronze  sculpture. 

At  the  time  of  the  funeral  the  general  feeling  of 
those  participating  in  the  service  was  that  the  burial 
should  be  in  Spring  Grove  Cemetery,  Cincinnati,  since 
the  forty-six  years  of  his  active  ministry  had  been 
spent  in  that  city,  and  since  Mr.  Rains  was  buried 
there.  After  the  memorial  services  in  March,  M.  M. 
Cochran  of  Uniontown,  Pennsylvania,  a  college  mate 
and  lifelong  friend,  suggested  that  the  most  fitting 


372 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


place  for  Mr.  McLean's  permanent  interment  was  the 
Campbell  Cemetery  at  Bethany,  West  Virginia.  Mr. 
Cochran  volunteered  to  bear  the  entire  expense  of  the 
removal  if  it  should  seem  best  to  the  family  and 
friends  that  it  be  made.  This  proposal  was  indorsed 
by  so  many  representative  men  that  the  change  was 
finally  agreed  upon,  the  reburial  taking  place  at  Beth¬ 
any,  Thursday,  October  27,  in  the  presence  of  a  large 
concourse  made  up  of  the  students,  faculty  and  friends 
from  far  and  near.  President  Edgar  Odell  Lovett  of 
the  Rice  Institute,  Houston,  Texas,  who  graduated 
from  Bethany  College  while  Mr.  McLean  was  its  presi¬ 
dent,  delivered  the  address  on  this  occasion.  Several 
paragraphs  of  this  address  are  reproduced  in  the 
ninth  chapter  of  this  volume. 

Among  the  considerations  which  led  to  the  change, 
in  which  the  friends  at  Cincinnati  graciously  acqui¬ 
esced  with  those  elsewhere,  was  the  feeling  that,  in  the 
long  history  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ,  the  name  of 
Archibald  McLean  will  be  associated  with  that  of  Alex¬ 
ander  Campbell  as  the  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln  is 
with  that  of  George  Washington.  So  it  is  especially 
fitting  that  he  should  be  buried  in  the  same  hillside 
enclosure  to  which  he  himself  had  tried  to  secure  the 
removal  of  the  body  of  Walter  Scott,  Mr.  Campbell  ’s 
comrade  in  the  Restoration  movement.  Furthermore, 
Mr.  McLean’s  close  identification  with  Bethany  College 
as  student,  trustee,  lecturer  and  president,  would  have 
justified  his  burial  in  the  college  cemetery,  even  if  his 
preeminence  in  the  life  of  the  church  had  not  dictated 
it.  As  indicated  in  earlier  chapters  of  this  work,  he 
loved  Bethany  better  than  any  other  earthly  place. 

In  preparing  to  move  from  Cincinnati  to  St.  Louis 
Mr.  McLean  sent  about  a  thousand  volumes  of  his  li¬ 
brary  to  Bethany  College  where  he  wished  to  have  the 


REBURIAL  AT  BETHANY  373 

entire  collection  go  on  his  death,  as  indicated  in  the 
following  letter  to  his  sister,  Mrs.  Cannon. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio,  May  26,  1918. 

Sarah  Dear : 

I  am  writing  you  in  confidence.  I  want  no  one  else  to  see 
this  for  the  present. 

If  anything  should  befall  me,  I  want  my  books  to  go  to 
Bethany  College.  You  may  know  that  religious  books,  if  sold, 
bring  almost  nothing.  There  is  almost  no  demand  for  such 
works.  But  such  books  are  as  good  as  new  to  a  college. 

I  have  worked  hard,  but  aside  from  my  books  I  have  very 
little  of  this  world’s  goods.  If,  when  the  end  comes,  there  is 
enough  to  meet  all  obligations,  that  is  as  much  as  I  expect. 
In  an  office  like  mine  it  is  impossible  to  save  anything. 

I  want  you  to  see  to  it  that  my  wishes  are  carried  out.  I 
need  my  books  while  I  live  else  I  could  give  them  now.  If  I 
had  any  estate  I  could  make  a  will.  But  I  have  no  estate 
worth  willing. 

I  trust  you  and  George  are  well.  God  be  with  you  both. 

Affectionately  yours, 

Archibald. 

I  was  never  in  better  health  than  now. 

He  liad  written  his  brother  James  A.,  to  the  same 
effect  and  received  a  letter  from  him  urging  him  to 
make  a  will  clearly  indicating  his  purpose,  not  only  as 
to  the  books  but  as  to  any  other  property  he  might 
have,  however  small  its  value.  In  consequence  of  his 
neglect  to  follow  this  advice  the  books  that  remained  in 
his  apartment  had  to  be  stored  until  the  estate  was 
wound  up  before  they  could  be  legally  transferred  to 
the  college. 

Whatever  the  historical  significance  of  other  places, 
Bethany  must  always  remain  the  chief  shrine  of  the 
Disciples  of  Christ.  To  it,  annually,  hundreds  of  peo¬ 
ple  turn  their  feet  in  pilgrimage,  and  to  all  of  these 
the  cemetery  on  the  hillside  is  of  equal  interest  with 
the  Campbell  mansion,  the  old  church  and  the  college. 


374 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


It  is  a  spot  also  that  the  students  visit  frequently  and 
which  helps  to  make  real  to  them  the  heroic  lives  of  the 
men  whose  mortal  remains  rest  within  its  walls.  More 
truly  than  most  cemeteries  we  may  call  this  God’s 
Acre.  Here  rest  the  mortal  remains  of  Thomas  and 
Alexander  Campbell,  Robert  Richardson,  W.  K.  Pen¬ 
dleton,  A.  E.  Myers,  W.  H.  Woolery,  J.  M.  Trible,  J. 
C.  Keith,  R.  H.  Wynne,  A.  C.  (Miss  Cammie)  Pendle¬ 
ton,  T.  E.  Cramblet,  members  of  their  families  and 
others  no  less  worthy.  Since  Mr.  McLean’s  burial, 
B.  C.  Hagerman,  another  former  president  of  the  col¬ 
lege,  has  joined  the  illustrious  group,  as  his  wife,  a 
granddaughter  of  Alexander  Campbell,  did  several 
years  earlier. 

There  was  general  agreement  that  the  monument  to 
mark  this  grave  should  be  of  enduring  granite,  simple 
and  dignified  in  design,  unpretentious,  but  large 
enough  and  handsome  enough  to  command  attention. 
Many  minds  gave  loving  thought  to  the  inscription, 
cast  in  bronze  and  set  in  the  face  of  the  monument. 
A  group  of  associates  and  friends  claimed  the  privi¬ 
lege  of  bearing  the  cost  of  the  stone,  recognizing  that 
the  real  memorial  of  his  life  and  work  is  the  world¬ 
wide  extension  of  the  gospel  to  which  he  gave  mighty 
impetus  and  which  shall  not  cease  until  in  the  phrase 
that  he  often  quoted,  “The  earth  shall  be  full  of  the 
knowledge  of  Jehovah,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.” 

The  day  after  Mr.  McLean’s  death  G.  W.  Muckley 

was  to  lead  the  devotional  service  at  the  headquarters 

of  the  United  Societv.  Before  breakfast  his  little 

*/ 

daughter  Betty  awakened  to  find  him  looking  through 
his  Bible  and  asked  him  what  he  was  doing.  He  re¬ 
plied  that  he  was  looking  for  something  about  Mr. 
McLean.  Then  she  asked,  “Is  his  name  in  the  Bible?” 
“No,  dear.”  Instantly  she  added,  “Well,  it  ought  to 
be.”  All  who  knew  him  will  agree  with  her  that  in 


AMONG  THE  HILES  HE  LOVED 
Monument  in  the  Campbell  Cemetery,  Bethany,  West  Virginia. 


. 


BETTY  MUCKLEY’S  TRIBUTE  375 

the  book  of  Acts  which  is  never  completed,  his  name  is 
constantly  recurring. 

Among  the  letters  written  from  Battle  Creek  was 
one  to  Mary  Anderson  Bowden. 

Battle  Creek,  Michigan,  December  10,  1920. 
Dear  Mary  Anderson : 

I  am  counting  the  days  till  I  see  you  and  Little  Pal  and 
your  parents.  It  seems  an  age  since  I  saw  you  last.  I  am 
planning  and  hoping  to  be  in  St.  Louis  not  later  than  the 
25th.  No  doubt  Old  Santa  is  thinking  of  all  good  girls  and 
boys  and  is  getting  ready  to  fill  their  stockings  when  the  time 
comes. 

Blessings  on  you  each  and  all. 

Affectionately, 

Bro.  C. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  IT.  G.  Bowden  had  lived  next  door  to 
Mrs.  Cusson’s  in  Cincinnati,  and  had  removed  to  St. 
Louis  at  the  same  time  Mr.  McLean  came.  As  Mr. 
Bowden  was  an  officer  of  the  Men  and  Millions  Move¬ 
ment  Mr.  McLean  had  a  double  opportunity  to  get  ac¬ 
quainted  with  Mary  Anderson  and  her  brother  Gilbert. 
Like  other  of  his  little  friends  they  found  his  name  too 
much  for  their  unpracticed  tongues  and  abbreviated 
it  to  “Brother  Caine.”  They  treasure  thirty  charac¬ 
teristic  post  cards  sent  to  them  on  his  journeys  of  the 
last  few  months  from  all  over  America.  There  were 
letters  also,  of  which  the  following  will  serve  as  a 
sample. 


Des  Moines,  Iowa,  January  1,  1920. 

Dear  Mary  Anderson : 

A  Happy  New  Year  to  you  and  Little  Pal  and  to  your 
parents!  Your  papa  told  me  while  we  were  in  St.  Louis  that 
you  had  some  fever  again.  He  and  I  and  others  who  love 
you  are  asking  that  you  may  have  perfect  health  and  be  as 
rugged  as  Gilbert.  When  I  see  you  next  week  or  the  week 


376  ARCHIBALD  MoLEAN 

after  I  hope  to  find  yon  in  good  health  and  in  the  best  of 
spirits. 

God  love  you  and  bless  you,  dear  Mary  Anderson,  and  all 
dear  to  you  and  all  to  whom  you  are  dear. 

I  send  love  and  best  wishes  to  all  in  your  home. 

Affectionately  your 

Brother  Caine. 

This  is  the  first  letter  in  the  New  Year. 


Six  of  the  postcards  follow. 

Topeka,  Kansas,  December  3,  1919. 

Dear  Mary  Anderson : 

It  is  four  nights  since  I  saw  you  and  had  my  shoes  shined. 
It  seems  like  “1492  years”  or  days  since  that  time.  I  trust 
you  are  all  well  and  as  happy  as  happy  can  be.  I  send  love 
to  each  and  all. 

Your  old  friend  and  admirer, 

A.  McLean. 

Lincoln,  Nebraska,  December  6,  1919. 

How  are  you,  Little  Pal?  And  how  is  the  Big  Pal?  And 
how  are  all  the  Pals?  I  am  well  and  hungry  to  see  you  and 
M.  A.  Good  luck  to  you  both  and  to  all  beside  in  your  home 
and  across  the  fence. 

Brother  Caine. 

Chicago,  Illinois,  January  23,  1920. 
“Be  good,  sweet  maid;  let  who  will  be  clever.” 

Bro.  Caine. 

Columbus,  Ohio,  February  17,  1920. 

Dear  Mary  Anderson : 

Please  tell  Little  Pal  to  be  good,  and  show  him  how.  I  am 
on  my  way  to  New  York.  After  that  I  go  west,  and  shall  be 
gone  two  or  three  weeks.  I  shall  miss  seeing  you  and  Little 
Pal.  Blessings  on  you  both  and  on  all  who  love  you. 

Affectionately, 


Br.  C. 


POST  CARDS  TO  BOWDEN  CHILDREN  377 


(Mailed  at)  St.  Paul,  Minnesota,  March  3,  1920. 
Dear  Little  People: 

Are  you  both  well  and  as  happy  as  kings'?  I  trust  so. 
Here  I  am  in  Sioux  City,  South  Dakota,  spending  the  day 
and  speaking  for  Mr.  Tupper,  a  man  Papa  knows.  There  is 
snow  on  the  ground,  but  the  day  is  perfect.  After  speaking 
tonight  I  take  the  train  for  St.  Paul,  Minnesota.  In  ten  days 
more  I  expect  to  leave  for  home,  sweet  home.  Then  I  shall 
see  you.  I  shall  count  the  days  till  then.  Blessings  on  you 
and  yours. 

Affectionately, 


Be.  C. 


Chicago,  Illinois,  March  8,  1920. 
'Rah  for  Mary  Anderson, 

’Rah  for  Gilbert  Bowden, 

’Rah  for  Papa  and  Mama. 

B.  C. 


To  this  correspondence  should  be  added  the  two  let¬ 
ters  which  follow.  The  first  he  wrote,  like  many  of  his 
personal  notes,  with  pen  and  ink.  The  second  he  re¬ 
turned  to  its  author  from  Battle  Creek  wdth  the  re¬ 
sponse  in  pencil  written  on  the  bottom  of  the  sheet. 

St.  Louis,  Missouri,  November  26,  1920. 
Mr.  Henry  G.  Bowden, 

St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

My  dear  Colonel: 

Tonight  I  leave  St.  Louis  and  expect  to  be  gone  two  or  three 
weeks.  I  trust  it  may  be  well  with  Mary  Anderson  and  Little 
Pal  and  their  parents.  I  shall  miss  you  all,  rest  assured. 
Blessings  on  each  one  and  on  all  dear  to  you. 

That  was  a  great  story  you  told  us  on  Wednesday  night. 
Pew  men  can  do  the  kind  of  work  you  are  doing.  Your  talk 
and  prayer  with  the  conductor  were  wonderful.  Praise  God 
for  a  man  who  is  able  to  do  such  things. 

Affectionately  yours, 


A.  McLean. 


378 


AKCHIBALD  McLEAN 


St.  Louis,  Missouri,  December  7,  1920. 

Bishop  A.  McLean, 

St.  Louis,  Missouri. 

Dear  Bishop : 

I  wish  I  knew  how  to  express  to  you  my  appreciation  of 
the  letter  I  found  upon  my  return  to  St.  Louis. 

I  do  not  know  where  you  are  or  what  you  are  doing,  but  I 
do  know  that  He  is  caring  for  you  wherever  you  are  and 
God  grant  that  your  body  and  mind  may  have  a  rest  and  that 
you  may  come  back  to  us  refreshed  and  happy.  The  fact  is, 
I  have  not  seen  you  any  other  way. 

Beloved,  I  wonder  if  you  know  how  dear  you  are  to  the 
four  of  us,  Mrs.  Bowden,  Mary  Anderson,  Gilbert  and  the 
writer.  I  wish  we  could  be  more  to  you.  Certainly  we  want 
to  be  of  service  and  shall  be  whenever  you  will  allow  us. 

Sincerely,  fraternally  and  affectionately  yours, 

Henry  G.  Bowden. 

Dear  Col : 

Not  worthy. 

Bro.  C. 

His  devotion  to  these  little  friends  was  past  ordinary 
understanding.  In  Cincinnati  he  stopped  in  their 
home  for  a  little  visit  every  evening  after  dinner.  Dur¬ 
ing  a  serious  illness  of  Gilbert’s,  when  his  life  was 
almost  despaired  of,  the  great  man  would  take  him  up 
in  his  arms  evidently  in  silent  prayer,  then  replace 
him  in  his  bed  and  walk  out  of  the  room  without  hav¬ 
ing  uttered  a  word.  The  little  fellow’s  parents  knew 
that  Mr.  McLean  was  suffering  the  same  agony  of 
anxiety  that  racked  their  own  souls.  One  day  after 
replacing  the  child  in  his  bed,  he  dropped  to  his  knees 
and  prayed :  ‘  ‘  Our  Father,  grant  that  this  child  may 
be  made  well  and  the  prayers  of  these  parents  heard 
and  answered,  for  Jesus’  sake.” 

Among  the  innumerable  tributes  paid  to  Mr.  McLean 
none  showed  more  discernment  than  the  poem  by  Jes¬ 
sie  Brown  Pounds,  which  appeared  in  The  Christian - 


MRS.  POUNDS’  POEM  379 

Evangelist  of  J aniiary  27,  1921,  two  months  before  her 
own  death. 


Welcomed 

Perhaps  he  now  sits  with  the  saints  of  the  ages, 

With  Carey  and  Wesley  and  Wyckliffe  and  Paul, 

With  Socrates,  Plato,  and  all  the  high  sages — 

He  had  thought  their  thoughts  joyously  after  them  all. 

They  would  welcome  his  coming,  their  wisdom  discerning 
He  belonged  not  to  part  of  the  race  but  the  whole ; 

They  will  surely  have  joy  in  him,  speedily  learning 
The  whimsical  charm  of  his  glorious  soul. 

But,  somehow,  I  cannot  thus  think  of  him; — rather, 

I  fancy  I  see  him  a  center  of  mirth, 

As,  hailing  his  coming,  around  him  there  gather 

The  children  he  laughed  with  and  romped  with  on  earth ; — 

The  children  who  slipped  from  the  arms  of  their  mothers 
And  took  the  long  journey  with  never  a  fear ; 

I  fancy  them  calling,  each  one  to  the  others, 

As  they  called  when  he  came  from  his  journeyings  here. 

And  then  to  the  heavenly  playground  they  lead  him, — 

This  prophet  who  bore  a  child’s  heart  in  his  breast, — 

The  children  are  glad,  and  it  may  be  they  need  him 
To  play  with  them  yonder  while  taking  his  rest. 

Of  Mr.  McLean  it  could  be  said  as  it  was  of  Moses, 
when  his  work  was  finished,  “His  eye  was  not  dim,  nor 
his  natural  force  abated.”  Though  he  might  have 
done  a  still  greater  work  if  he  had  continued  in  the 
world,  he  had  completed  his  special  task  as  it  is  rarely 
given  any  man  to  do,  and  had  left  a  record  of  the  ac¬ 
complishment  in  the  History  of  the  Foreign  Society . 
This  needed  only  a  sequel  of  a  few  pages  to  be  com¬ 
plete.  These  he  himself  had  written  in  the  last  annual 
report  of  that  society,  which  carried  the  record  to  Sep¬ 
tember  30,  1920.  Beginning  October  1,  1920,  the 


380 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


United  Christian  Missionary  Society,  in  which  Mr. 
McLean  as  first  vice-president  bore  an  important  part, 
took  over  all  the  work  of  the  old  societies. 

For  thirty-nine  years  he  had  been  the  chief  executive 
of  the  Foreign  Society.  Nineteen  years  he  was  sec¬ 
retary  and  twenty  years  president,  but  his  duties  were 
practically  the  same  all  the  time,  as  neither  Isaac 
Errett  nor  Charles  Louis  Loos  ever  spent  any  time 
in  the  office  except  to  attend  meetings  of  the  executive 
committee  and  occasional  conferences.  The  work  for 
which  the  Foreign  Society  came  into  being  began  after 
his  election.  He  entered  upon  his  duties  March  4, 1882, 
and  the  first  missionaries  to  non-Christian  lands  went 
to  India  September  16  of  the  following  fall.  Thus 
every  one  of  the  358  missionaries  whom  the  society 
sent  out  in  its  entire  history,  not  counting  its  repre¬ 
sentatives  in  England  and  Scandinavia,  received  his 
commission  from  Mr.  McLean’s  hand.  While  the  legal 
status  of  the  society  continues,  since  the  first  of  Octo¬ 
ber,  1920,  the  missionaries  have  gone  out  and  the  work 
has  been  conducted  in  the  name  of  the  United  Chris¬ 
tian  Missionary  Society. 

The  St.  Louis  convention  was  the  Foreign  Society’s 
last  as  well  as  Mr.  McLean’s  last.  The  importance  of 
his  place  in  it  was  fairly  representative  of  the  increas¬ 
ing  part  he  had  played  during  the  thirty-nine  years  of 
his  administration.  As  indicated  above,  he  compiled, 
organized  and  wrote  the  general  portion  of  the  annual 
report  of  the  society. 

Each  morning  of  the  convention  there  was  a  prayer 
meeting  at  eight  o’clock  in  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  auditorium. 
These  meetings  had  been  held  in  each  of  the  annual 
conventions  beginning  with  that  at  Norfolk  in  1907. 
If  Mr.  McLean  was  not  the  actual  originator  of  the 
meetings  he  was  the  leading  spirit  in  maintaining  them 
and  was  general  chairman  of  the  committee  in  charge 


HIS  LAST  CONVENTION  381 

from  the  time  they  were  inaugurated.  He  never 
missed  one  nor  did  he  ever  arrive  late. 

The  most  popular  event  in  every  convention,  as  we 
have  seen ,  was  the  introduction  of  missionaries. 
This  was  always  attended  to  by  Mr.  McLean  and  there 
was  nothing  in  which  he  seemed  to  take  greater  de¬ 
light.  When  the  number  of  missionaries  became  too 
great  to  be  presented  singly,  he  began  introducing 
them  by  groups  according  to  their  fields.  This  he  did 
in  St.  Louis,  first  presenting  the  India  group,  then 
those  from  China,  the  Philippines  and  Japan.  He  al¬ 
lowed  each  person  to  speak  two  minutes.  He  did  not 
resume  his  seat  while  they  were  speaking  but  stood  by 
to  wave  them  off  the  platform,  as  he  inexorably  did 
when  the  time  was  up.  Those  who  attended  the  con¬ 
ventions  remember  many  sententious  remarks  of  Mr. 
McLean  in  connection  with  these  introductions  and 
when  presenting  missionaries  to  make  addresses. 
When  calling  on  Dr.  Dye  at  the  New  Orleans  conven¬ 
tion,  he  said,  “I’d  as  soon  think  of  introducing  George 
Washington.”  In  the  same  convention  he  introduced 
Dr.  James  Butcliart  of  China  as  “a  gold  medal  man 
from  the  ground  up.”  His  wit  was  equal  to  every 
occasion  but  one.  After  he  had  presented  Miss  Mat- 
tie  Burgess,  of  the  C.  W.  B.  M.  mission  in  India,  in 
one  of  the  conventions,  and  she  had  spoken  her  two 
minutes,  he  said,  “Time’s  up!”  She  smiled  blandly 
and  replied,  “Mr.  McLean,  I  never  promised  to  obey 
you!”  He  joined  in  the  convention’s  laughter  and  she 
finished  her  speech. 

Between  the  meetings  and  going  and  coming  he  was 
shaking  hands  with  friends  from  all  over  the  conti¬ 
nent  and  inquiring  by  name  about  the  members  of 
their  families  at  home. 

The  convention  received  and  adopted  a  report  of  the 
committee  on  recommendations  in  the  following  words: 


382 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


We  approve  the  report  of  the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary 
Society  as  presented  to  the  convention.  Realizing  that  this 
is  the  last  annual  report  of  this  individual  organization  we 
take  great  pleasure  in  heartily  commending  the  work  and 
accomplishments  of  this  organization  during  the  many  years 
of  its  splendid  history.  The  steady  growth  and  achievements 
have  shown  the  wisdom  and  excellent  management  of  the 
various  officers  and  committees  of  the  Foreign  Christian  Mis¬ 
sionary  Society,  and  we  are  hoping  and  trusting  that  the 
work  so  well  done  during  the  past  years  will  be  further  de¬ 
veloped  under  the  management  and  guidance  of  the  United 
Christian  Missionary  Society  of  which  it  becomes  a  part. 

At  the  St.  Louis  convention,  as  at  Cincinnati,  Mrs. 
Atwater  joined  Mr.  McLean,  as  Mr.  Rains  had  in  pre¬ 
ceding  conventions,  in  entertaining  the  missionaries 
and  many  of  their  friends  at  breakfast  on  Sunday 
morning.  The  invited  guests  filled  to  overflowing  the 
dining  room  of  the  Young  Women’s  Christian  Associa¬ 
tion.  They  called  on  each  missionary  by  name  to  say 
something  and  received  all  sorts  of  responses.  Some 
only  bowed  and  smiled;  many  spoke  briefly  of  their 
joy  in  the  fellowship  of  the  occasion ;  some  told  inter¬ 
esting  and  amusing  incidents  in  their  work;  some 
voiced  the  urgent  calls  of  the  fields  which  they  repre¬ 
sented.  Upon  every  one  Mr.  McLean  beamed  with  all 
the  pride  and  affection  of  a  devoted  father,  while  with 
fine  courtesy  recognizing  and  even  insisting  upon  Mrs. 
Atwater’s  equal  place  in  the  event  of  the  morning. 
With  all  the  gladness  of  the  hour  there  was  perhaps 
no  one  present  who  did  not  think  more  than  once  of 
the  certainty  that  the  same  group  would  never  assem¬ 
ble  again  on  earth,  but  it  is  equally  certain  that  no  one 
thought  of  Mr.  McLean  as  one  whom  death  might 
claim  within  the  year.  He  was  too  vigorous,  too  joy¬ 
ous,  too  necessary  in  God’s  Kingdom  for  us  to  think  of 
him  in  connection  with  death,  or  with  ceasing  on  any 
account  from  his  abundant  labors. 


HIS  WORK  GOES  ON  FOREVER 


383 


His  work  was  done;  his  work  was  just  begun;  his 
work  goes  on  forever.  The  completed  task  is  incom¬ 
parably  fair  and  finished;  the  larger  task  is  just  as 
certain  of  its  accomplishment  in  God ’s  good  time.  He 
is  still,  and  will  continue  to  be,  a  powerful  factor  in 
the  work  of  Christ  on  earth.  In  the  fullness  of  his 
strength  he  has  died  into  the  lives  of  thousands  who 
knew  and  loved  him.  Each  of  us  is  henceforth  more 
certain  of  the  presence  of  the  ever-living  Christ,  more 
convinced  that  his  is  the  only  way  of  life  for  any  soul, 
more  completely  committed  to  giving  every  man  every¬ 
where  a  chance  to  know  him.  Even  for  those  who 
never  saw  Archibald  McLean  in  the  flesh  his  burning 
message  is  printed  and  cannot  be  ignored.  To  be  a 
Christian  is  to  be  a  missionary:  to  the  members  of 
one’s  own  household,  to  neighbors,  and  either  person¬ 
ally  or  by  proxy  to  strangers  around  the  world.  In 
the  very  nature  of  God  he  is  concerned  for  the  salva¬ 
tion  of  every  soul  and,  as  we  become  partakers  of  the 
divine  nature,  we  must  share  and  express  this  concern. 
Even  in  the  rudimentary  stages  of  our  Christian 
growth  we  must  recognize  the  authority  of  Christ  com¬ 
manding  us  to  evangelize  the  world.  It  is  all  as  clear 
as  light,  when  once  Archibald  McLean  has  called  at¬ 
tention  to  its  absolutely  fundamental  place  in  the 
Scriptures  and  to  the  overwhelming  demonstration  of 
its  truth  in  all  human  history.  As  if  his  published 
books,  with  all  their  resourceful  variety  in  establish¬ 
ing  the  primacy  of  the  missionary  cause  in  the  Chris¬ 
tian  system,  might  prove  insufficient,  he  has  left  ready 
for  publication  an  equal  array  of  perfect  manuscripts 
that  drive  home  irrefutably  the  same  eternal  truths. 
If  one  would  escape  he  must  renounce  Christ,  aban¬ 
don  the  entire  Bible  and  take  his  place  with  the  in¬ 
fidels  who  are  consciously  fighting  against  God. 

But  the  memory  of  those  who  personally  knew 


384 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


Archibald  McLean  and  the  discernment  of  those  who 
read  his  writings  discover  more  than  an  invincible  ad¬ 
vocate  of  the  supreme  work  of  Christ’s  church;  they 
rejoice  in  beholding  a  rugged  Scots  Highlander  whom 
God’s  grace  had  made  as  gentle  as  the  little  children 
who  ran  to  his  arms  instinctively  wherever  he  ap¬ 
peared  ;  a  man  of  prayer  who  talked  with  God  more  in¬ 
timately  than  with  any  earthly  friend,  and  whose 
prayers  God  answered  year  by  year ;  a  mind  versed  in 
so  much  learning  of  many  sorts  that  he  was  ever  mod¬ 
est  in  speaking  before  his  opinion  was  asked  but  ever 
ready  with  assured  facts;  a  spirit  positive  and  un¬ 
afraid  in  his  own  convictions  but  chivalrously  respect¬ 
ful  to  those  of  others ;  a  soul  clear  of  earthly  stain  but 
full  of  sympathy  and  helpfulness  for  any  overtaken  in 
whatever  fault;  a  Christian  who  bore  about  with  him 
always  in  his  body  the  dying  of  J esus  that  the  life  also 
of  Jesus  might  be  manifested;  a  radiant  joy  in  a 
world  of  sadness,  a  tower  of  confidence  in  a  time  of 
uncertainty,  a  life  of  love  in  a  race  of  selfishness;  an 
example  of  what  God  can  do  with  a  man  who  lets  him 
have  his  way.  This,  and  much  more,  is  Archibald 
McLean ;  not  dead  but  alive  forevermore,  both  in  this 
world  where  his  works  do  follow  him  and  in  the  eternal 
mansions  which  God  has  prepared  for  them  that  love 
his  appearing. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 


THE  MAN  GOD  TOOK 

MODESTY - STRENGTH - ENERGY — GENIALITY — LOVE - COURAGE — INTEGRITY 

— CHRIST  IN  HIM. 

IRST  the  blade,  then  the  ear,  then  the  full  grain 
in  the  ear.  But  when  the  fruit  is  ripe,  straightway 
he  putteth  forth  the  sickle,  because  the  harvest  is 
come.  ’  ’  However  interesting  and  suggestive  the  proc¬ 
esses  of  growth  and  development  may  be,  our  chief 
concern  at  last  is  with  the  finished  product.  What 
sort  of  man  had  Archibald  McLean  come  to  be  before 
he  awoke  into  eternity!  The  narrative  of  the  chang¬ 
ing  years  and  of  the  steps  by  which  he  won  the  goal 
have  prepared  us  for  a  summary  of  his  character  and 
personality. 

Robert  E.  Speer  says  that  in  joint  conferences,  such 
as  meetings  of  the  trustees  of  Nanking  University  and 
the  Committee  of  Reference  and  Counsel  of  the  For¬ 
eign  Missions  Conference  of  North  America,  Mr.  Mc¬ 
Lean  seldom  spoke  unless  asked  to  do  so  or  until 
there  seemed  danger  that  something  would  be  done 
which  he  considered  unwise.  Then  he  showed  such 
knowledge  of  the  question  at  issue  and  such  a  grasp 
of  all  its  bearings,  and  presented  his  views  with  such 
clearness  and  force  and  yet  with  such  modesty  that 
those  who  had  been  consuming  the  time  of  the  meet¬ 
ing  reproached  themselves  for  having  permitted  him 
to  remain  silent  so  long.  His  habit  was  similar  in  all 
sorts  of  meetings  of  his  own  communion.  He  waited 


385 


386 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


both  to  get  all  possible  light  on  the  subject  under  dis¬ 
cussion  and  in  the  hope  that  someone  else  would  say 
the  final  word.  Even  in  the  midweek  prayer  meeting 
he  deferred  speaking  until  all  others  who  wished  to 
do  so  had  expressed  themselves.  In  conversation  he 
took  the  same  eager  interest  in  what  his  friends  had 
to  say  and  exercised  his  own  gift  of  silence.  When 
he  did  speak  there  was  no  uncertainty  as  to  what  he 
thought,  but  his  tremendous  earnestness  was  mani¬ 
festly  not  an  effort  to  impose  his  opinions  upon  others. 
Rather  his  emphasis  was  upon  the  facts  which  had  led 
to  his  conclusions.  Thus  his  speech  was  as  modest  as 
his  silence.  We  have  no  one  English  word  for  this 
quality,  possibly  because  humanity  so  seldom  produces 
a  man  to  whom  it  can  be  applied  justly.  To  call  it 
modesty,  meekness  or  humility  is  as  inadequate  as  it 
would  be  to  speak  of  the  delicate  and  elusive  exhala¬ 
tion  of  the  trailing  arbutus  as  fragrance,  odor  or  per¬ 
fume.  Those  who  knew  Archibald  McLean  had  a  bet¬ 
ter  understanding  of  the  Beatitudes,  the  thirteenth 
chapter  of  First  Corinthians  and  the  Savior’s  com¬ 
mendation  of  childlikeness. 

This  gentleness  of  Archibald  McLean,  to  risk  an¬ 
other  insufficient  word,  was  marked  and  remembered 
because  it  was  joined  with  extraordinary  strength. 
There  is  a  gentleness  of  weakness  which  is  a  matter 
of  indifference,  but  tenderness  in  power  is  always  note¬ 
worthy.  Anyone  can  touch  a  watch  crystal  safely  with 
a  feather,  but  our  hats  are  off  to  the  man  who  can 
caress  it  with  a  trip  hammer  and  leave  it  uninjured. 
In  physique,  in  intellect,  in  character,  in  affection, 
Archibald  McLean  was  strong.  However  one  took 
him,  he  was  a  big  man  and  wTas  concerned  only  with 
big  matters.  Being  a  strong  man  in  the  first  place, 
God  set  him  a  large  task.  Working  manfully  at  this 
task  inevitably  kept  him  growing  all  the  time.  For 


MODESTY,  STRENGTH  AND  ENERGY  387 


sheer  acumen  he  would  have  been  distinguished  with¬ 
out  the  nobler  qualities  for  which  he  is  best  remem¬ 
bered.  He  came  in  contact  with  some  of  the  ablest 
men  of  his  time  and  was  unquestionably  their  peer. 
Not  only  so,  but  he  moved  familiarly  in  the  thought 
of  the  greatest  men  of  all  ages  and  all  lands  through 
their  published  words.  He  held  an  incredible  array  of 
facts  at  ready  command.  An  event,  a  person,  a  name, 
once  known  he  never  forgot.  His  mental  processes 
were  both  quick  and  accurate.  There  were  no  ragged 
edges  to  his  ideas;  they  were  all  as  clear-cut  as  dia¬ 
monds.  He  not  merely  memorized  most  of  the  New 
Testament  and  much  of  the  Old,  but  did  so  uncon¬ 
sciously  while  mastering  their  contents  and  literally 
living  in  their  revelation.  Without  any  suggestion  of 
pedantry  the  precise  words,  phrases  and  sentences  of 
the  Bible  and  of  innumerable  great  books  flowed 
through  his  speech.  With  unerring  certainty  he  got 
at  the  heart  of  any  matter  which  concerned  his  society 
and  his  Lord.  To  him  every  situation  was  a  problem 
and  he  never  rested  until  he  had  the  solution;  never 
accepted  a  counterfeit,  makeshift  or  substitute  solu¬ 
tion.  Intense  and  powerful  as  were  his  emotions,  he 
did  not  permit  them  to  short-circuit  his  thinking. 
Since  he  had  no  personal  ends  to  serve  his  mind  was 
free  from  the  bias  of  self-interest.  Thus  his  native 
strength  grew  hourly  till  the  end. 

Even  to  a  casual  acquaintance  Mr.  McLean  revealed 
unbounded  energy.  There  are  many  strong  men  who 
are  quiescent;  their  strength  is  potential,  his  was  dy¬ 
namic.  He  was  not  merely  busy  every  minute— some 
of  the  busiest  people  get  nothing  done;  he  worked  at 
tilings  which  counted,  he  worked  at  high  speed  and 
he  threw  all  of  his  strength  into  whatever  he  under¬ 
took.  He  moved  with  such  precision  as  well  as  force 
that  he  seldom  had  to  retrace  his  steps;  what  was 


388 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


done  was  finished  and  he  was  off  with  unabated  zest 
to  do  the  next  thing.  His  schedule  stretched  on  ahead 
of  him  so  far  that  he  lost  no  time  considering  what 
should  be  his  next  objective.  He  lost  no  time  on  any 
account,  even  the  moment  between  engagements,  the 
minutes  between  trains,  the  early  morning  and  late 
evening  hours  he  utilized  to  the  fraction  of  a  second, 
and  yet  without  the  semblance  of  hurry.  He  was  not 
merely  following  a  method  or  system  which  he  had 
adopted,  rather  the  abounding  life  within  him  had  to 
find  expression,  like  the  life  in  a  mighty  oak  that  rises 
unceasingly.  This  extraordinary  energy  seized  the 
gist  of  the  newspaper  as  it  passed,  gathered  up  the 
best  things  in  the  current  magazines,  kept  two  or  three 
important  books  under  tribute  all  the  time,  met  vari¬ 
ous  persons  daily  with  alert  attention  and  instant 
response,  conducted  a  world-wide  and  particular  corre¬ 
spondence  no  line  of  which  he  allowed  to  grow  per¬ 
functory,  solved  vital  and  far-reaching  problems  of 
administration  as  they  arose,  created  a  body  of  mis¬ 
sionary  literature  unique  in  its  compass,  its  individual¬ 
ity  and  its  finality,  and  all  the  while  cherished  a  thou¬ 
sand  children,  loved  ten  thousand  friends  and 
worshiped  God  as  if  otherwise  entirely  unoccupied! 

The  geniality  of  Archibald  McLean  was  another  of 
his  distinguishing  marks.  Who  can  forget  his  smile! 
Who  can  duplicate  his  handshake!  Who  can  surpass 
his  immediate  intimacy  with  children!  Of  course  his 
unaffected  modesty  and  simplicity  and  his  reassuring 
strength  were  factors  in  making  children  love  him,  but 
it  took  also  rare  companionableness  to  make  him  a 
universal  favorite  with  the  tots  of  the  cradle  roll  and 
the  boys  and  girls  of  the  elementary  grades.  His 
geniality  was  the  natural  expression  of  his  love  of  peo¬ 
ple;  not  merely  his  friends  and  comrades  but  every¬ 
body.  He  would  not  intrude  upon  strangers,  but  when 


LOVE,  COURAGE  AND  INTEGRITY  389 

they  approached  him  or  when  circumstances  brought 
him  into  association  with  them  he  was  as  cordial  as 
with  men  of  long  acquaintance.  His  wit  and  humor, 
his  surprising  fund  of  anecdotes  and  his  large  store 
of  mastered  information,  with  his  deference  to  others, 
made  everyone  count  each  quarter-hour  spent  with 
him  a  period  to  be  remembered.  Without  apparent 
design  or  obvious  effort  on  his  part  every  conversa¬ 
tion,  or  even  chance  meeting,  transformed  strangers 
into  friends  and  redoubled  the  respect  and  affection  of 
those  who  had  known  him  before. 

The  impossible  commandment,  that  we  love  our  en¬ 
emies,  Archibald  McLean  took  literally  and  obeyed 
completely.  Few  men  of  such  positive  character  and 
such  uncomprising  standards  of  personal  conduct  and 
of  fealty  to  Christ  ever  had  so  few  enemies.  These 
few  based  their  hostility  either  upon  misunderstand¬ 
ings  or  upon  opposing  interests  or  both.  In  several  in¬ 
stances  his  forbearance  and  his  ready  and  unrestricted 
helpfulness  overcame  the  hostility  of  those  who  had 
grossly  wronged  him  and  had  injured  the  work  which 
he  counted  dearer  than  life.  That  the  same  attitude 
did  not  avail  in  other  cases  grieved  but  did  not 
discourage  him.  Ordinarily  he  let  the  record  of  his 
work  and  his  single-minded  and  passionate  devotion 
to  the  Christ  speak  for  themselves  against  constant 
and  resourceful  opposition.  On  the  other  hand,  when 
the  situation  seemed  to  demand  it,  he  had  the  courage 
to  repel  the  attacks  and  even  to  “carry  the  war  into 
Africa.’ ’  This  he  did  without  animosity.  He  loved 
peace  and  he  hated  strife,  but  he  could  not  condone 
falsehood,  however  ready  he  might  be  to  forgive  those 
who  propagated  it. 

It  seems  superfluous  to  speak  of  the  courage  of  any 
McLean,  but  there  are  varieties  and  degrees  of  hero¬ 
ism.  Archibald  McLean  was  not  called  upon  to  face 


390 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


physical  danger  as  many  of  his  ancestors  were.  Of 
him  the  times  required  the  more  difficult  moral  hero¬ 
ism:  in  youth  to  quit  the  church  of  his  fathers  and  to 
become  a  minister  and  champion  of  a  new  and  de¬ 
spised  communion;  in  manhood  to  leave  a  beloved  con¬ 
gregation  and  to  pioneer  an  unpopular  and  self-deny¬ 
ing  cause;  throughout  life  to  stand  for  what  he  felt 
was  the  will  of  God,  even  if  he  had  to  stand  alone. 
The  reproaches  which  he  suffered  in  each  instance 
brought  agony  to  his  sensitive  soul,  but  he  never 
thought  of  hesitating  on  that  account.  Always  he 
scorned  the  way  of  moral  compromise  and  time-serv¬ 
ing.  He  stood  firm  for  his  convictions  when  some  of 
his  friends  accused  him  of  denying  the  faith  and  of 
wrecking  the  work  which  he  had  spent  his  life  in  es¬ 
tablishing. 

Of  his  father  he  declared  that  it  would  have  been 
as  easy  for  the  sun  to  depart  from  its  course  as  for 
Malcolm  McLean  to  do  a  thing  that  was  dishonest  or 
which  he  knew  to  be  morally  wrong.  The  same  in¬ 
tegrity  ruled  his  own  course.  His  response  to  his  con¬ 
science  was  so  instantaneous  and  complete  that  he 
could  not  be  said  to  wrestle  with  temptation;  he  re¬ 
pelled  it  immediately  and  decisively.  He  claimed  no 
exemptions  under  the  customs  of  his  time,  but  squared 
his  words  and  his  conduct  with  absolute  standards. 
His  days  were  filled  with  what  George  Eliot  called 
“ deeds  of  daring  rectitude.”  Even  if  the  success  of 
the  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society  seemed  to 
demand  that  he  be  less  scrupulous,  he  held  to  the  one 
straight  line  of  truth  and  right. 

“He  endured  as  seeing  Him  who  is  invisible,”  this 
was  the  open  secret  of  Archibald  McLean’s  gentleness 
and  strength,  energy  and  courage,  friendliness  and  in¬ 
tegrity.  Men  frequently  ascribed  to  him  various  mo¬ 
tives,  such  as  would  actuate  themselves.  Their  in- 


CHRIST  IN  HIM 


391 


genious  speculations  were  entirely  unnecessary,  for 
like  the  psalmist  he  could  have  said,  “All  my  springs 
are  in  Thee.”  In  his  last  book  he  quoted  from  E.  A. 
Lawrence,  “The  main  source  of  missions  then  is  not, 
strictly  speaking,  in  any  motive  at  all,  but  in  a  motor, 
in  Christ  himself  as  author,  operator  and  energizer  of 
all  vitalities  and  activities.  Christ  is  the  one  motive 
power.  He  moves  within  us  and  moves  us.  He  draws 
us  into  life  and  bears  us  forth  in  the  outflowings  of 
his  heart.  He  is  the  originator  of  all  our  regenerate 
activities,  the  director  of  all  our  operations,  Author 
and  Finisher  of  our  work  as  well  as  of  our  faith.” 
This  was  true  of  Mr.  McLean’s  own  life.  It  was  trans¬ 
parent  as  sunlight,  as  completely  controlled  as  ocean 
tides. 

Like  his  Master,  Mr.  McLean  talked  little  though 
positively  of  prayer,  but  prayed  constantly.  It  was 
only  on  request  that  he  wrote  or  spoke  at  length  on 
the  subject.  No  chapter  in  any  of  his  books  deals 
specifically  with  it.  But  a  consciousness  of  the  divine 
presence  pervades  all  of  his  addresses  and  writings. 
He  does  not  dwell  at  length  upon  the  prayer  life  of 
his  missionary  heroes,  but  the  reader  is  never  in  doubt 
about  the  constancy  and  vitality  of  their  praying.  It 
was  never  surprising  that  Livingstone  died  literally 
upon  his  knees,  for  all  of  the  elect  company  to  which 
he  belonged  lived  figuratively  upon  their  knees.  Archi¬ 
bald  McLean  was  of  their  fellowship,  an  initiate  of 
the  Chief  Missionary’s  inner  circle.  His  associates 
felt  a  degree  of  strength  and  confidence  in  his  pres¬ 
ence  which  was  more  than  their  reliance  upon  his 
clear  reasoning,  marvelous  intuition  and  steadfast 
character.  Somehow  God’s  wisdom  and  guidance 
seemed  vouchsafed  to  him  in  a  peculiar  way  and  men 
came  to  trust  him,  not  merely  for  himself,  but  chiefly 
as  a  channel  of  divine  grace.  Again  and  again  a  con- 


392 


ARCHIBALD  McLEAN 


ference  would  recess  over  night  with  some  perplexing 
problem  unsolved,  but  with  the  tacit  hope  that  Mc¬ 
Lean  would  have  the  solution  in  the  morning,  and  sel¬ 
dom  were  his  comrades  disappointed.  There  was  the 
same  confidence  in  his  prayers  to  bring  to  pass  the 
impossible  things  that  had  to  be  done. 

Thus,  when  the  last  word  is  said,  the  chief  char¬ 
acteristic  of  Archibald  McLean  was  not  any  human 
attribute  at  all,  for  the  most  striking  fact  in  the  life 
of  this  lone  man  was  that  he  was  never  alone,  but 
wherever  he  went  or  tarried,  there  was  the  Christ, 
whose  he  was  and  whom  he  served,  with  a  pure  heart 
fervently. 


INDEX 


Abbreviations:  F.  C.  M.  S.  tor 
Foreign  Christian  Missionary  So¬ 
ciety;  U.  C.  M.  S.  for  United 
Christian  Missionary  Society. 

Adams,  M.  D.,  94. 

Alexander'  Campbell  as  a  Preacher, 
177,  235 

Allen,  Albert,  63. 

Allen,  E.  W.,  240,  336. 

American  Christian  Missionary  So¬ 
ciety,  organization,  91  ;  fiftieth 
anniversary,  163  ;  united  in  Men 
and  Millions  Movement,  247 ;  in 
U.  C.  M.  S.,  307,  312,  313. 

Anderson,  Rufus,  299. 

Atkinson,  A.  M.,  139. 

Atwater,  Mrs.  Anna  R.,  302,  303, 
307,  314,  370,  382. 

Barclay,  E.  D.,  63. 

Barclay,  Dr.  J.  T„  missionary  to 
Jerusalem,  91. 

Barton,  James  L.,  letter  from,  258  ; 
New  York  conference,  295  ; 
Edinburgh  conference,  296. 

Bentley,  W.  P.,  missionary  sup¬ 
ported  by  Bethany  College,  112. 

Bethany  College,  McLean’s  journey 
to,  56  ;  buildings,  59  ;  faculty,  60- 
63  ;  curriculum,  63  ;  students,  65  ; 
literary  societies  and  fraterni¬ 
ties,  66  ;  boarding  clubs,  68  ;  in¬ 
fluence  on  Mr.  McLean,  68  ;  his 
devotion  to,  69  ;  students’  mis¬ 
sionary  society,  112  ;  living  link, 
113  ;  McLean  president,  116  ;  re¬ 
signation,  123  ;  death  of  Prof¬ 
essor  Trible,  124  ;  filling  the  gap, 
124  ;  election  of  Hugh  McDiar- 
mid  as  president,  124  ;  gift  of 
library,  372. 

Bethany,  West  Virginia,  home  of 
Alexander  Campbell,  Richardson 
and  Pendleton,  56  ;  an  idealized 
spot,  56  ;  shrine  of  Disciples  of 
Christ,  373. 

Biddle,  Dr.  H.  N.,  missionary  to 
Africa,  160  ;  effect  of  death  on 
Mr.  McLean,  162. 

Bishop  Museum,  Honolulu,  143. 

Black,  E.  R.,  112. 

Blanpied,  B.  T.,  65. 

Board  of  Church  Extension,  united 
in  Men  and  Millions  Movement, 
247  ;  in  U.  C.  M.  S.,  313. 

Board  of  Ministerial  Relief,  united 
in  Men  and  Millions  Movement, 
247  ;  in  U.  C.  M.  S.,  313. 

Booth,  J.  H.,  255. 

Bowden,  H.  G.,  375,  377. 

Bowden,  Mary  Anderson  and  Gil¬ 
bert,  376-378. 

Bower,  W.  C.,  241. 


Broadus,  John  A.,  “The  only  pray¬ 
er  Jesus  commanded,”  223. 

Buntain,  Alexander  R.,  31. 

Burgess,  Miss  Mattie,  381. 

Burnet,  D.  S.,  71,  72. 

Burnham,  F.  W.,  president  of 
American  Christian  Missionary 
Society,  274  ;  leader  of  inter¬ 
church  team,  302  ;  president  of 
U.  C.  M.  S.,  314  ;  last  letter  to, 
364  ;  part  in  funeral,  370. 

Butchart,  Dr.  James,  381. 

Campbell,  Alexander,  leader  of  Re¬ 
storation  movement,  49 ;  editor 
of  Millennial  Harbinger,  56 ; 
raising  funds  for  Bethany,  59  ; 
choice  of  associates,  60 ;  buried 
at  Bethany,  374. 

Campbell,  Alexander,  Jr.,  63. 

Campbell,  A.  W.,  63. 

Campbell,  George  A.,  361,  362,  369. 

Cannon,  George  N.,  31. 

Cannon,  Mrs.  George  N.  (sister), 
95  ;  letter  to,  373. 

Catto,  William,  30. 

Catto,  Mrs.  William  (sister),  state¬ 
ment  about  early  missionary  in¬ 
terest  in  the  McLean  family,  39  ; 
attendance  at  funeral,  369. 

Centennial  of  Disciples,  173-176, 
269. 

Chapman,  A.  L .,  84,  168. 

Christum- Evangelist ,  The,  113, 
200,  237,  245,  371,  378. 

Chinstian  Standard,  113,  283. 

Christian  Woman’s  Board  of  Mis¬ 
sions,  organization,  91  ;  four 
missionaries  to  India,  93  ;  Mis¬ 
sionary  Tidings,  113 ;  coopera¬ 
tion,  173,  226,  245,  246,  307  ;  es¬ 
tablished  College  of  Missions, 
200,  united  in  Men  and  Millions 
Movement,  247 ;  in  U.  C.  M.  S., 
313. 

Circuit  of  the  Globe,  A,  142. 

Clark,  Champ,  65. 

Clawson,  Bertha,  244. 

Clay,  B.  F.,  336. 

Cleaver,  T.  S.,  366. 

Clovernook,  72. 

Cochran,  M.  M.,  64,  65  ;  conserv¬ 
ing  Bethany  endowment,  122 ; 
suggests  burial  of  McLean  at 
Bethany,  372. 

Coll,  Island  of,  18,  19. 

College  of  Missions,  172,  200. 

Colsher,  W.  H.,  343. 

Columba,  21. 

Conference,  Ecumenical,  London, 
1888,  114,  294  ;  New  York,  1900, 
294 ;  World,  Edinburgh,  1910, 
296. 


393 


394 


INDEX 


Cook,  Dr.  S.  M.,  and  wife,  37,  208. 

Coop,  Timothy,  96,  171. 

Cooper,  M.  Y.,  336,  371. 

Cooper,  S.  M„  336,  355,  371. 

Corey,  S.  J.,  appointment  as  secre¬ 
tary,  173  ;  “prince  in  our  Israel,” 
240 ;  commission  to  the  Orient, 
241;  vice-president  U.  C.  M.  S., 
337 ;  letter  to,  338 ;  estimate  of 
McLean,  340 ;  McLean’s  appre¬ 
ciation  of,  361 ;  last  letters  to, 
362,  363  ;  last  services,  369,  370. 

Cory,  A.  E.,  secretary  of  Million 
Dollar  Campaign,  246,  300  ;  sec¬ 
retary  of  Men  and  Millions 
Movement,  272 ;  letters  to,  303, 
350 ;  secretary  of  F.  C.  M.  S. 
and  U.  C.  M.  S.,  337. 

Cory,  Mrs.  A.  E.,  letter  to,  351. 

Craig,  J.  H.,  111. 

Crawford,  Alexander,  49. 

Crawford,  Donald,  brief  fellowship 
with  Baptists  and  ministry  in 
Prince  Edward  Island,  50 ;  es¬ 
tablishes  church  at  Summerside, 
50 ;  baptizes  Archibald  McLean, 
52 ;  wins  Malcolm  McLean,  54  ; 
master-builder  of  men,  54. 

Crenshaw,  Julian  B.,  63. 

Culloden,  Battle  of,  22. 

Curtis,  J.  E.,  63. 

Cusson,  Mrs.  Elizabeth,  158,  317. 

DeLany,  Dorothy,  marries  Dr.  W. 
E.  Macklin,  103. 

DeLany,  Laura,  marries  C.  E. 
Garst,  100. 

DeMoss,  Lucy  King,  342. 

Deweese,  B.  C.,  138. 

Disciples  of  Christ,  in  Prince  Ed¬ 
ward  Island,  49-51 ;  McLean 
joins,  52  ;  his  father  unites  with, 
54 ;  Alexander  Campbell’s  lead¬ 
ership,  56  ;  Mt.  Healthy  Church, 
71 ;  missionary  organizations,  91 ; 
first  missionaries  to  non-Chris¬ 
tian  lands,  93  ;  missionaries  to 
England,  96  ;  first  missionary 
book,  135  ;  Jubilee  convention, 
163  ;  Centennial,  173-176  ;  mis¬ 
sionary  growth,  238  ;  representa¬ 
tion  in  Panama  congress,  244  ; 
Men  and  Millions  Movement, 
247-252 ;  early  differences,  263  ; 
missions  unpopular,  265  ;  mis¬ 
sionary  enterprise  vindicated, 
267  ;  Cincinnati  convention,  273- 
275  ;  practical  steps  toward 
unity,  310;  World  Call ,  310; 

name  of  Archibald  McLean  as¬ 
sociated  with  that  of  Alexander 
Campbell,  372. 

Doan,  Austin,  241. 

Doan,  R.  A.,  commission  to  the 
Orient,  241  ;  secretary  of  F.  C. 
M.  S.,  338 ;  oriental  secretary, 
352 ;  McLean’s  appreciation  of, 
361  ;  last  letter  to,  362  ;  resigna¬ 
tion,  338  ;  work  on  foreign  sur¬ 
vey,  338. 

Dolbear,  A.  E.,  professor  of  science 
in  Bethany  College,  inventor  of 
telephone  and  wireless  tele¬ 
graphy,  64. 


Domm,  Alexander,  occupied  Cary 
homestead,  72. 

Doubling  the  Preacher’s  Power, 
203,  280. 

Dowling,  F.  M.,  84. 

Duart  Castle,  22. 

Dye,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Royal  J„  160, 
233,  381. 

Earl,  H.  S.,  96. 

Earnest,  J.  B..  337  ;  letter  to,  346. 

Ebbert,  W.  B.,  92. 

Eberle,  Edith,  234. 

Eckert,  Minna,  letter  from,  343. 

Eldred,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  R.  Ray,  232. 

Epoch  Makers  of  Modern  Missions, 
200,  214-217. 

Errett,  Isaac,  91 ;  first  president  of 
F.  C.  M.  S„  107  ;  trip  to  Pales¬ 
tine,  113  ;  death,  113  ;  McLean 
manuscript,  367. 

Faris,  Ellsworth,  traveling  com¬ 
panion,  139  ;  missionary  to 
Africa,  160. 

Farris,  J.  Randall,  children  of, 
287. 

Fillmore,  Miss  Fred,  370. 

Foreign  Christian  Missionary  So¬ 
ciety,  organization,  80,  91  ;  Mc¬ 
Lean  corresponding  secretary, 
92  ;  first  missionaries,  93  ;  open¬ 
ing  new  fields,  100-103  ;  first 
missionary  grave,  104  ;  memorial 
church,  104 ;  field  work,  108  ; 
Rains  called  as  secretary,  132 ; 
offices  rented,  132 ;  furloughs  of 
missionaries,  133 ;  marked  ad¬ 
vance,  160  ;  entering  Africa,  160  ; 
first  annuity  bond,  161 ;  Cuban 
mission  opened,  162;  Jubilee 
convention,  163 ;  Philippine  mis¬ 
sion  opened,  168 ;  annual  con¬ 
ference  of  missionaries,  171  ; 
dedication  of  steamboat  Oregon, 
175  ;  Tibetan  mission  established, 
179 ;  rallies,  187 ;  oriental  com¬ 
mission,  241  ;  Men  and  Millions 
Movement,  246-248  ;  opposition, 
268,  273  ;  becomes  part  of  U. 
C.  M.  S.,  307,  312,  313,  379;  of¬ 
ficers,  336 ;  last  annual  report 
379  ;  McLean  chief  executive 
thirty-nine  years,  380 ;  approval 
of  report,  382. 

Foreign  Missions  Conference  of 
North  America,  297. 

Franklin,  Josepha,  225. 

Frost,  Adelaide  Gail,  letter  in  Mis¬ 
sionary  Tidings,  152. 

Garrison,  J.  H.,  113. 

Garst,  C.  E.,  100,  146  ;  death,  161. 

Garst,  Gretchen,  136,  243. 

Gaylord,  Judson,  29. 

Geddie,  John,  genesis  of  interest  in 
Missions,  39  ;  pastorate  in  Prince 
Edward  Island,  39  ;  influence 
among  Island  churches,  39  ;  ap¬ 
pointment  as  missionary,  40  ; 
voyage  to  New  Hebrides  Islands, 
40  ;  McLean’s  lecture  concerning, 
40. 

Glennie,  Alexander,  31. 


INDEX 


395 


Glennie,  Mrs.  Alexander  (sister), 
43. 

Graham,  Robert,  63. 

Graham's  Road  School,  33. 

Grainger,  O.  J.,  370,  371. 

Gray,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  C.,  80,  86  ; 
letters,  205,  290. 

Gray,  A.  E.,  letter  to,  288. 

Green,  Justin  N.,  336,  370. 

Hagerman,  B.  C.,  66  ;  buried  at 
Bethany,  374. 

Hagin,  J.  W.,  370. 

Hall,  Jabez,  influence  of  Professor 
Loos  upon,  62. 

Handbook  of  Missions,  200. 

Hanna,  W.  H.,  168  ;  on  the  rallies, 
198  ;  letter  from,  241. 

Harding,  H.  Wilson,  65. 

Harding,  W.  H.,  25. 

Harvuot,  A.  M.,  86. 

Hebrides  Islands,  17-23. 

Hedges,  C.  P.,  256. 

Highlands  of  Scotland,  17,  18. 

Hill,  Jediah  S.,  74. 

Hill,  Miss  Mary,  80. 

History  of  the  Foreign  Christian 
Missionary  Society,  129,  379. 

Hollinger,  W.  M.,  191. 

Hunt,  W.  Remfry,  125,  227. 

Inch  Kenneth  Island,  20. 

Intercessory  Prayer,  209. 

Interchurch  World  Movement,  301  ; 
preparatory  conferences,  303  ; 
failure  and  payment  of  under¬ 
writings,  304. 

International  conventions,  Rich¬ 
mond,  138 ;  Jubilee,  163  ;  Cen¬ 
tennial,  174  ;  Portland,  270  ;  Cin¬ 
cinnati,  273  ;  memorial  serv¬ 
ice  at  Winona,  371 ;  St.  Louis, 
381,  382. 

Inverkeithing,  21. 

Iona,  Isle  of,  21,  23. 

Jameson,  Love  H.,  preacher  and 
hymn  writer,  73. 

Johnson,  Miss  Kate,  146. 

Johnson,  Dr.  Samuel,  17,  18,  19,  20. 

Johnston,  James,  29. 

Kampe,  E.  C.,  343. 

Kershner,  B.  L.,  169,  242. 

Ivilgour,  Miss  Mary  Martha,  let¬ 
ters  to,  259,  345  ;  letter  from, 
344. 

Kilgour,  Dr.  P.  T.,  80 ;  as  helper 
and  friend,  117  ;  medical  ex¬ 
aminer  for  F.  C.  M.  S.,  117,  336, 
344. 

Kinney,  Ellie,  81,  82.  And  see 
Payne. 

Knox,  John,  in  Prince  Edward  Is¬ 
land,  49. 

La  Boiteaux,  “Aunt  Sallie,”  78, 
107. 

Lamar,  J.  R.,  66. 

Lane,  Franklin  K.,  25. 

Lane,  Isaac,  motion  to  elect  Mr. 
McLean  pastor,  73  ;  underground 
railroad,  74. 

Lawson,  Henry,  34. 

Lindsay,  Yachel,  167. 


Loftis,  Dr.  Zenas  S.,  letter  to  his 
mother,  180. 

Long,  R.  A.,  pledged  $1,000,000 
for  Men  and  Millions  Movement, 
247. 

Loos,  Carrie,  222.  And  see  Wil¬ 
liams. 

Loos,  Charles  Louis,  professor  in 
Bethany  College,  61  ;  special 
friend  of  McLean,  62 ;  second 
president  of  F.  C.  M.  S.,  114 ; 
resignation,  167. 

Lovett,  Edgar  Odell,  estimate  of 
McLean,  119 ;  memorial  address 
at  Bethany,  372. 

Mackay,  R.  P.,  letter  from,  259. 

McDiarmid,  Hugh,  107 ;  president 
of  Bethany  College,  124. 

McKay,  Alexandra  (mother),  28. 

McKay,  A.  Sterling,  25. 

McKay,  Christy  (stepmother),  30. 

McKay,  Donald,  34. 

McKay,  John  (grandfather),  28, 

29. 

Macklin,  Dr.  W.  E.,  101,  102,  125, 
239. 

McLean,  Dr.  Alexander,  20. 

McLean,  Alexandra  (mother),  29, 

30. 

McLean,  Alexandra  (sister),  mar¬ 
ried  William  Catto,  29,  30.  And 
see  Catto. 

McLean,  Sir  Allan,  20,  21. 

McLEAN,  ARCHIBALD,  ancestry, 
17-18  ;  clan,  19-21,  23  ;  parents, 
28  ;  reference  to  mother’s  death, 
28 ;  birth,  29 ;  brothers  and  sis¬ 
ters,  29  ;  “Archie  and  Jim,”  30  ; 
aversion  to  feather  beds,  37 ; 
sister’s  explanation  of  his  en¬ 
trance  into  the  ministry,  39  ;  lec¬ 
ture  on  John  Geddie,  40  ;  ap¬ 
prenticed  to  William  Tuplin, 
carriage  builder,  44  ;  devotion  to 
brother  James  A.,  45  ;  and  to  his 
sons,  45 ;  foreman  of  Tuplin’s 
shop,  46 ;  year  at  Boston,  48 ; 
last  vehicle,  48  ;  passion  for  per¬ 
fection,  48 ;  attends  revival  of 
Donald  Crawford,  50  ;  baptized 
by  Crawford,  52 ;  reticence,  52 ; 
introduces  Crawford  to  father, 
54 ;  use  of  Scripture  in  early 
sermons,  54  ;  call  to  preach,  55  ; 
journey  to  Bethany,  56  ;  Read¬ 
ing  Greek  New  Testament,  62; 
member  of  Kit-Kat  Club,  68  ; 
beneficiary  of  White  bequest, 
68  ;  appreciation  of  Bethany,  69  ; 
honor  graduate,  71  ;  called  to 
Mt.  Healthy,  73  ;  voice  and  ac¬ 
cent  76  ;  manuscripts,  77 ;  con¬ 
fidence  and  affection  of  children, 
77,  78  ;  set  high  standards,  78  ; 
overcome  with  emotion,  79  ;  ser¬ 
mon  on  temperance,  79  ;  con¬ 
ducts  revival  service,  81 ;  inter¬ 
est  in  children,  82 ;  love  of 
music,  82 ;  strengthening  the 
pastor’s  hand,  84  ;  sympathetic 
listener  and  guide,  85 ;  tribute 
at  funeral,  86 ;  transfer  of 
church  membership,  86  ;  life 
member  in  F.  C.  M.  S.  92  ;  cor- 


396 


INDEX 


responding-  secretary,  92 ;  con¬ 
tinued  at  Mt.  Healthy,  94  ;  com¬ 
mended  by  executive  committee, 
94  ;  handwriting,  95  ;  letters,  96  , 
103  ;  full-time  service,  104  ;  re¬ 
signs  at  Mt.  Healthy,  106  ;  trib¬ 
ute  of  Isaac  Errett,  107 ;  field 
work,  108  ;  world  citizen,  109  ; 
mannerisms,  110  ;  London  Ecu¬ 
menical  Missionary  Conference, 
114,  293  ;  wisdom  in  administra¬ 
tion,  115  ;  president  of  Bethany 
College,  116,  117 ;  his  love  of 

Bethany,  118  ;  resignation,  123  ; 
filling  the  breach,  124  ;  open  let¬ 
ter  of  missionaries,  125  ;  de¬ 
monstration  of  students,  126  ; 
painful  decision,  127  ;  distress 
over  slowness  of  society  and 
college,  129  ;  reenforcement,  132  ; 
developing  the  home  base,  133  ; 
first  book,  135 ;  one  task,  137 ; 
journey  around  the  world,  138  ; 
Hawaii,  142  ;  life  on  shipboard, 
144  ;  Japan,  146  ;  customs  and 
mode  of  travel  trying,  148  ;  ap¬ 
preciation  by  Chinese  mission¬ 
aries,  149  ;  India,  149  ;  illness, 
150  ;  McLean  Hall,  152  ;  study¬ 
ing  conditions,  152;  baptizing  in 
India,  152  ;  picture  in  village, 
154  ;  Ceylon,  154  ;  Australian 
experiences,  154  ;  Palestine,  Tur¬ 
key,  Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden, 
155 ;  home  again,  156  ;  impres¬ 
sions  of  his  trip,  156  ;  new  home 
in  Walnut  Hills,  158  ;  promoted 
missionary  rallies,  161  ;  death  of 
missionaries,  161 ;  president  of 
F.  C.  M.  S.,  167  ;  trip  to  Con¬ 
stantinople,  168  ;  salary  and 
contributions,  170;  annual 
breakfast  to  missionaries,  171, 
382 ;  Campbell  brochures,  177 ; 
"omnibus"  offerings,  178  ;  Edin¬ 
burgh  World  Missionary  Con¬ 
ference,  181,  293,  296  ;  statement 
of  needs  of  society,  185  ;  Cali¬ 
fornia  gold  watch  186  ;  fighting 
heathenism  at  home,  187  ;  Miss 
Franklin’s  experiences,  192  ;  "I 
have  made  no  sacrifices,"  194  ; 
hospitality  shown  him,  194  ;  his 
account  of  rallies,  195  ;  Whei'e 
the  Book  Speaks,  199  ;  Hand¬ 
book  of  Missions,  Epoch  Makers 
of  Modem  Missions,  200  ;  History 
of  the  Foreign  Chinstian  Mis¬ 
sionary  Society,  201  ;  The  Pri¬ 
mary  of  the  Missionary,  202  ; 
Doubling  the  Preacher’s  Power, 
203  ;  his  library,  204  ;  book  talk 
with  the  Grays,  205  ;  method  of 
study,  207  ;  Intercessory  Prayer, 
209  ;  three  books  wrhich  sum  up 
his  message,  210  ;  quotations, 
211-220  ;  the  fine  art  of  honesty, 
220 ;  unique  relation  to  mission¬ 
aries,  222  ;  college  mates,  222 . 
more  than  father,  224  ;  informal 
commissions,  225  ;  choosing  mis¬ 
sion  fields,  226  ;  escorting  an  am¬ 
bassador,  227  ;  letters  to  mission¬ 


aries  frequent  and  vital,  228 ; 
solicitude  for  Dr.  Shelton,  229  ; 
daily  prayer  for  missionaries, 
231  ;  introducing  missionaries  at 
conventions,  232,  381  ;  the 

Eldreds,  232  ;  the  Dyes,  233  ; 
Miss  Eberle,  234  ;  Jessie  Brown 
Pounds’  Christmas  greeting,  236  ; 
the  story  of  thirty  years,  237  ; 
Muckley  and  Macklin,  239 ; 
tribute  to  comrades,  240  ;  per¬ 
sonal  messages  of  missionaries, 
241-244  ;  Panama  congress  of 
1916,  244  ;  chairman  of  executive 
committee  of  Men  and  Millions 
Movement,  248  ;  statement  of 
character  of  the  movement,  251  ; 
thirty-fifth  anniversary  celebra¬ 
tion,  253  ;  quotations  from 
speeches  and  letters,  255 ;  his 
acknowledgment,  260  ;  facing 
controversy  at  its  height,  264  ; 
challenging  his  hearers,  266 ; 
maligned,  266  ;  severe  test,  268  ; 
unmoved  by  clamor,  270  ;  ova¬ 
tion  at  Portland  convention,  271  ; 
firm  for  principles,  272  ;  leading 
part  in  framing  constitution  of 
U.  C.  M.  S.,  272  ;  Cincinnati  con¬ 
vention  of  1919,  273  ;  St.  Louis 
convention  of  1920,  275  ;  declara¬ 
tion  of  faith,  277  ;  loyalty  to  his 
own  pastor,  278  ;  efforts  to  enlist 
ministers,  279  ;  quotations  from 
Doubling  the  Preacher’s  Power, 
281  ;  lectures  to  preachers,  282  ; 
concern  for  entire  life  of  minis¬ 
ters  and  all  relations,  282  ;  quo¬ 
tations  from  The  Preacher’s 
Wife,  283  ;  advice  on  Muckley ’s 
pastorate  and  marriage,  285  ; 
ministers’  children,  287 ;  loneli¬ 
ness  confessed  in  letters,  290  ; 
always  a  preacher  himself,  291  ; 
Christian  unity  and  Christian 
missions  inseparable,  292 ;  rela¬ 
tion  to  early  union  movements, 
293  ;  New  York  Ecumenical  Mis¬ 
sionary  Conference,  293,  294  ; 

Annual  Foreign  Missions  Con¬ 
ference  of  North  America,  297  ; 
interest  in  Interchurch  World 
Movement,  301  ;  "Who  said, 
‘louder’?”,  302;  felt  necessity  for 
meeting  obligations  of  the  Inter- 
church  Movement,  305  ;  better 
for  the  vision,  306  ;  correspond¬ 
ence  with  Mrs.  Atwater,  308  ; 
united  magazine  important  event, 
310 ;  letter  to  Mr.  Burnham, 
314  ;  favored  New  York  as  head¬ 
quarters,  316 ;  accepted  decision 
without  question,  316  ;  home  and 
church,  318  ;  his  last  Canadian 
convention,  321  ;  teamwork  with 
Mr.  Rains,  322  ;  S.  J.  Corey's 
estimate,  322 ;  letters  to  Rains, 
324  ;  range  of  interest  and 
knowledge,  328  ;  address  at 
funeral  of  Rains,  329  ;  letters  to 
friends,  333  ;  life-and-death 
union,  335  ;  letter  to  S.  J.  Corey, 

338  ;  quotations  from  S.  J.  Corey, 

339  ;  Wilson’s  reminiscences, 
340 ;  jewels  and  auctions,  342 ; 


INDEX 


397 


Kampe,  Colsher  and  the  office, 
343  ;  Dr.  Kilgour,  344  ;  Dr.  Earn¬ 
est,  346;  letter  to  President  Paul, 
347.;  letter  to  Muckley,  348;  fel¬ 
lowship  with  officers  of  all  the 
boards,  348  ;  Yocum,  349  ;  letter 
to  A.  E.  Cory,  350  ;  to  Mrs. 
Cory,  351  ;  to  R.  A.  Doan,  352  ; 
B.  L.  Smith,  356  ;  effects  of  close 
association,  358  ;  proposed  tour 
of  mission  fields,  359  ;  annual 
visit  to  Battle  Creek,  359  ;  slight 
surgical  operation,  360  ;  letters 
to  St.  Louis,  361  ;  letter  from 
W.  H.  Miller,  365  ;  “two  million 
friends,”  366  ;  letter  from 
Cleaver,  367  ;  shock  of  his  going, 

368  ;  W.  F.  Turner,  368  ;  funeral 
in  St.  Louis  and  in  Cincinnati, 

369  ;  extracts  from  Campbell’s 
address,  369  ;  missionaries  as 
pallbearers,  370  ;  memorial  serv¬ 
ice  at  Winona,  371 ;  interment 
at  Cincinnati,  371 ;  reburial  at 
Bethany,  372  ;  library  given  to 
Bethany  College,  373  ;  illustrious 
company,  374;  monument  erected 
by  friends,  374  ;  Betty  Muckley’s 
tribute,  374 ;  letters  and  cards 
to  the  Bowden  children,  375  ; 
Mrs.  Pound’s  poem,  378  ;  his 
work  was  done,  379  ;  his  last 
convention,  380 ;  leading  spirit 
in  convention  prayer  meetings, 
380 ;  his  work  goes  on  forever, 
383  ;  modesty,  385  ;  strength, 
386,  energy,  387  ;  geniality,  388  ; 
love,  389 ;  courage,  389  ;  in¬ 
tegrity,  390  ;  Christ  in  him,  392. 

McLean,  Archibald,  of  Scotland, 
17. 

McLean,  Christine  (sister),  mar¬ 
ried  William  Whitehead,  31. 

McLean,  Daniel  (brother),  32,  33. 

McLean,  Donald,  19,  20. 

McLean,  Sir  Fitzroy  Donald,  23. 

McLean,  Hector,  22. 

McLean,  James  A.  (brother),  29, 
32,  37,  373. 

McLean,  James  R.  (brother),  32. 

McLean,  John  (brother),  27,  30, 
32. 

McLean,  John  (grandfather),  27. 

McLean,  John  William  (brother), 
32. 

McLean,  Malcolm,  (brother),  27, 
32. 

McLean,  Malcolm,  (father),  mar¬ 
riage,  28  ;  high  tribute,  28  ; 
death  of  Archibald’s  mother,  29, 
30  ;  marriage  to  Christy  McKay, 
30  ;  every  boy  should  learn  a 
trade,  32 ;  farmer,  35  ;  stone 
mason,  35  ;  home,  36  ;  religion 
first  necessary  of  life,  38  ;  family 
worship,  38  ;  missionary  interest, 
39  ;  life  of  prayer,  41  ;  love  of 
Bible,  42 ;  childlikeness,  42  ; 
death,  43 ;  baptized  by  Donald 
Crawford,  54  ;  integrity,  390. 

McLean,  Margaret  (sister),  mar¬ 
ried  James  Johnston,  29. 

McLean,  Margaret  (sister),  mar¬ 
ried  Ephraim  Read,  32. 


McLean,  Mary  (sister),  married 
Alexander  Glennie,  31. 

McLean,  Mary  Jane  (sister),  mar¬ 
ried  Judson  Gaylord,  29. 

McLean,  Nettie  (sister),  married 
Alexander  R.  Buntain,  31. 

McLean  of  Drimnin,  22. 
of  Duart,  22,  23. 
of  Lochbuy,  22. 

McLean,  Sarah  (sister),  married 
George  N.  Cannon,  31.  And  see 
Cannon. 

McLean  Thomas  Malcolm  (neph¬ 
ew),  45. 

McLeod,  Neil,  65,  68. 

McQuary,  Rodney  L.,  337. 

McWane,  James  R.,  121. 

Madden.  M.  B.,  256. 

Malsbary,  Judge  Charles  F.,  eulogy 
of  Mr.  McLean,  76. 

Margate,  Prince  Edward  Island, 
McLean  begins  apprenticeship 
there,  44. 

Martin,  Summer  T.,  112. 

Matheson,  Margaret  (grand¬ 
mother),  27 

Medbury,  Sheldon,  letter  to,  289. 

Meigs,  F.  E.,  133,  298. 

Meigs,  Ruth  (Mrs.  D.  W.  Teach- 
out),  136. 

Men  and  Millions  Movement,  in¬ 
ception,  246  ;  enlargement,  247  ; 
threefold  aim,  247  ;  McLean 
chairman,  248  ;  emergency  drive, 
248  ;  contribution  to  other  com¬ 
munions,  249  ;  young  people, 
249 ;  educational  undertaking, 
250  ;  spiritual  enterprise,  251. 

Millennial  Harbinger,  56. 

Miller,  R.  H.,  secretary  of  Men  and 
Millions  Movement,  248,  327. 

Miller,  Mrs.  R.  H.,  351. 

Miller,  W.  H.,  letter  from,  365. 

Missionary  Addresses,  135. 

Missionary  Intelligencer,  108,  113, 
136,  181,  187,  188,  259,  310. 

Missionary  Tidings,  113. 

Missionary  Voice,  137. 

Moffett,  Robert,  alumnus  and  trus¬ 
tee  of  Bethany  College,  63  ;  first 
corresponding  secretary  of  F.  C. 
M.  S.,  92. 

Moore,  W.  T.,  founder  of  F.  C.  M. 
S.,  92  ;  in  England,  96  ;  letter  to, 
96. 

Morrison,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Hugh  T., 
233. 

Moser,  Helen,  81,  82. 

Moser,  Henry,  75. 

Moser,  Josephine,  81,  82.  And  see 
Runyan. 

Mott,  John  R.,  110,  120,  151  ;  letter 
from,  259  ;  New  York  conference, 
295 ;  Edinburgh  conference,  296. 

Mt.  Healthy,  72. 

Mt.  Healthy  Church,  location,  71  ; 
organization,  71 ;  preachers,  72  ; 
division  on  slavery,  73  ;  early 
missionary  interest,  73  ;  dele¬ 
gates  to  district  missionary  so¬ 
ciety,  73  ;  contribution  to  Jamai¬ 
ca,  73  ;  McLean’s  pastorate,  73  ; 
strong  characters,  74  ;  devotion 
to  McLean,  76  ;  growth  in  liber- 


398 


INDEX 


ality,  80 ;  Children’s  Day,  80 ; 
memorial  service,  83  ;  fiftieth  an¬ 
niversary,  106 ;  farewell  recep¬ 
tion,  139. 

Muckley,  George  W.,  141,  239,  256, 
285,  348,  360,  374. 

Muckley,  Betty,  360,  374. 

Mull,  Island  of,  17,  18,  20-22. 

Munnell,  Thomas,  preached  at  Mt. 
Healthy,  72  ;  reorganized  church, 
73. 

Murray,  Lou  Lou  Coombs,  letter 
from,  344. 

Nanking,  University  of,  181,  269. 

National  Benevolent  Association, 
united  in  Men  and  Millions 
Movement,  247  ;  in  U.  C.  M.  S., 
313. 

New  London  Cemetery,  33. 

New  London  Church,  celebration 
of  sacrament,  38  ;  39,  40. 

Norton,  Albert,  93,  94. 

Northumberland,  Straits  of,  27. 

Oliphant,  L.  D.,  244. 

Ontario  convention  in  1920,  321. 

Oregon,  steamboat,  175. 

Osgood,  Dr.  E.  I.,  228,  256. 

Paris,  C.  W.,  farewell  banquet,  76. 

Paul,  Alexander,  242,  353. 

Paul,  Charles  T.,  estimate  of  two 
books,  200;  letter  to,  347. 

Payne,  Mrs.  W.  C.,  as  Ellie  Kin¬ 
ney,  81,  82  ;  organist,  82  ;  memo¬ 
rial  service,  83. 

Phillips,  Thomas  W.,  benefactor  of 
Bethany  College,  123  ;  leading- 
fight  against  the  Standard  Oil 
Company,  268  ;  on  Centennial 
committee,  269. 

Pendleton,  A.  C.  (Miss  Cammie), 
123,  374. 

Pendleton,  W.  K.,  counselor,  son- 
in-law  and  successor  of  Alexan¬ 
der  Campbell,  59  ;  Old  Virginia 
gentleman,  60 ;  buried  at  Beth¬ 
any,  374. 

Plopper,  C.  W.,  240,  337,  361. 

Pounds,  Jessie  Brown,  107,  236 ; 
poem,  “Welcomed,”  378,  379. 

Pounds,  John  E.,  112. 

Power,  F.  D.,  65,  66,  200. 

Preacher’s  Wife,  The,  130,  283. 

Prayer  meetings,  convention,  380. 

Primacy  of  the  Missionary,  The, 
136,  202,  217. 

Prince  Edward  Island,  author’s 
journey  to,  24 ;  silver  foxes, 
lambs  and  canned  lobsters,  25  ; 
discovery,  27  ;  absentee  landlords 
and  land  purchased  by  tenants, 
36 ;  division  into  sixty-seven 
lots,  36  ;  beginnings  of  the  Re¬ 
storation  movement  in,  50. 

Rains,  F.  M.,  secretary  of  F.  C. 
M.  S.,  132 ;  division  of  work, 
158  ;  led  in  promoting  annuities, 
161;  170;  first  missionary  break¬ 
fast,  171  ;  dedication  of  the 
steamboat  Oregon,  176 ;  trip  to 
the  Orient,  184  ;  McLean’s  esti¬ 
mate  of,  239 ;  McLean  celebra¬ 


tion,  255,  258 ;  teamwork  with 
McLean,  322;  cultivating  the 
home  base,  323  ;  overworked, 
324  ;  letters  to,  324,  326  ;  relapse, 
328 ;  funeral  address,  329-333  ; 
letters  regarding,  333,  334. 

Rains,  Mrs.  F.  M.,  letter  to,  334. 

Ramabai,  Pandita,  150. 

Read,  Ephraim,  32. 

Reformers,  see  Disciples  of  Christ. 

Restoration  movement,  see  Dis¬ 
ciples  of  Christ. 

Richardson,  Emma,  married  G.  L. 
Wharton,  222. 

Richardson,  Robert,  coadjutor  and 
biographer  of  Campbell,  56,  61  ; 
home  and  influence,  60  ;  buried 
at  Bethany,  374. 

Ridge,  Dr.  I.  M.,  123. 

Riooh,  David,  189,  192,  257. 

Rioch,  David  M.,  159,  288. 

Robinson,  Calvin,  funeral,  86. 

Rockefeller,  John  D.,  268. 

Rogers,  Wilson,  75. 

Runyan,  N.  P.,  75. 

Runyan,  Mrs.  N.  P.,  as  Josephine 
Moser,  81,  82,  83,  86. 

Schurman,  Jacob  Gould,  25. 

Schurman,  Maynard  F.,  25. 

Sebastian,  C.  J.,  370. 

Shaw,  H.  P.,  243. 

Shedd,  Mrs.  Anna  Louise  Fillmore, 
364. 

Shelton,  Dr.  A.  L.,  missionary  to 
Tibet,  179 ;  letters,  229  ;  libera¬ 
tion  from  bandits,  297. 

Shi  Kwei-baio,  243. 

Skye,  Island  of,  18,  27. 

Smith,  B.  L.,  356. 

Smith,  George  T.,  fellow  student 
of  McLean,  65  ;  missionary  to 
Japan,  100,  146,  222. 

Smith,  H.  D.,  336. 

Smith,  O.  C.,  75. 

Snodgrass,  John  T.,  Charter  mem¬ 
ber  Mt.  Healthy  Church,  77. 

Snodgrass,  Mrs.  John  T.,  77,  107  ; 
death  of,  158. 

Speer,  Robert  E.,  at  Bethany,  120  ; 
letter  from,  258  ;  New  York  con¬ 
ference,  295 ;  Edinburgh  confer¬ 
ence,  296 ;  statement  regarding 
McLean,  385. 

Spragens,  Frederick,  letter  to,  279. 

Student  Volunteer  Movement,  120, 
293. 

Summerside,  P.  E.  I.,  McLean 
completes  apprenticeship,  48 ; 
Donald  Crawford  preaches  and 
baptizes,  50,  52 ;  point  of  de¬ 

parture  for  journey  to  Bethany 
College,  57. 

Tannar,  C.  J.,  84. 

Teachout,  Mrs.  D.  W.  (Ruth 
Meigs),  136. 

Thomas  and  Alexander  Campbell, 
177. 

Todd,  M.  D.,  letter  to,  97. 

Tonkin,  Rose,  L.,  242. 

Trible,  J.  M.,  fellow  student  of 
McLean,  66 ;  vice-president  of 
Bethany  College,  123  ;  acting 


399 


INDEX 


president,  124  ;  death,  124 ; 
buried  at  Bethany,  374. 

Tuplin,  William,  carriage  builder 
to  whom  Archibald  McLean  was 
apprenticed  at  Margate,  45  ;  re¬ 
moval  to  Summerside,  46  ;  prize¬ 
winning  carriages,  44. 

Union  movements,  recent  origin  of, 
293  ;  variety  and  extent  of  co¬ 
operation,  298. 

United  Christian  Missionary  So¬ 
ciety,  constitution,  272 ;  union 
enterprises  of,  303  ;  initial  cor¬ 
respondence  regarding,  307  ; 
proposal  to  convention  in  1917, 
311 ;  agreement  adopted  in  1919, 
313  ;  headquarters,  315  ;  removal 
to  St.  Louis,  317  ;  McLean  photo¬ 
gravure,  871  ;  consummation, 
380. 

University  of  Nanking,  181,  269. 

Venn,  Henry,  299. 

Warren,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  W.  R.,  318, 
360,  370. 

Weaver,  Clifford  S.,  193,  and  wife, 
228. 

Western  Islands  of  Scotland,  A 
Journey  to  the,  17. 

Wharton,  G.  L.,  college  mate,  65, 


222 ;  among  the  first  mission¬ 
aries  to  India,  93  ;  letter  to,  99  ; 
journey  with  McLean  in  India, 
150. 

Where  the  Book  Speaks,  189,  199, 
200,  211-214. 

White,  Dr.  C.  J.,  donor  of  $500 
received  by  McLean  and  Mc¬ 
Leod,  68. 

White,  J.  Campbell,  151,  300. 

Whitehead,  William,  31. 

Williams,  E.  T.,  fellow  student  of 
McLean  65  ;  missionary  to  China, 
150,  222. 

Wilson,  Bert,  letter  to  McLean, 
320 ;  reminiscences  of,  340  ;  Mc¬ 
Lean’s  appreciation  of,  361. 

Woolery,  W.  H.,  fellow  student  of 
McLean,  66 ;  president  of  Beth¬ 
any  College,  112,  116  ;  buried  at 
Bethany,  374. 

World  Call,  113,  310,  371. 

Wright,  Joseph  F.,  74  ;  funeral  ser¬ 
mon,  74  ;  adviser  and  friend,  75. 

Wright,  W.  J.,  84. 

Yocum,  C.  M.,  illustrating  Mclean’s 
attitude  toward  dress,  140 ;  in 
F.  C.  M.  S.  and  U.  C.  M.  S., 
338 ;  recollections,  349 ;  Mr. 
McLean’s  appreciation  of,  361  ; 
last  letter  to,  364. 


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